IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ahh/wpaper/worms2113.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Emojis to conversion on social media: Insights into online consumer engagement and reactions

Author

Listed:
  • Dušan Mladenović
  • Kamil Koštiál
  • Nikolina Ljepava
  • Ondřej Částek
  • Yash Chawla

Abstract

Emojis have become extremely popular in online marketing. Marketers use emojis to humanize their voice and elicit an emotional response from their target audiences. However, little is known about how emojis are perceived and what kind of reactions they evoke in consumers. The aim of this study is to examine whether exposure to emojis leads to an increased purchase intention, and whether its use leads to higher revenue generation and campaign effectiveness. The results show that the use of emojis had a negative effect on purchase intention; however, it was positive when mediated by positive affect. Emojis increased the effectiveness of marketing campaigns for hedonic products and had a strong impact on the return on advertising spend. However, for utilitarian products, the effect was marginal. The findings have theoretical and practical implications, particularly for the type of products emojis are most effective in promoting, gender differences, and real-life consumer behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Dušan Mladenović & Kamil Koštiál & Nikolina Ljepava & Ondřej Částek & Yash Chawla, 2021. "Emojis to conversion on social media: Insights into online consumer engagement and reactions," WORking papers in Management Science (WORMS) WORMS/21/13, Department of Operations Research and Business Intelligence, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.
    • Handle: RePEc:ahh:wpaper:worms2113
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://worms.pwr.edu.pl/RePEc/ahh/wpaper/WORMS_21_13.pdf
    File Function: Original version, 2020
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McShane, Lindsay & Pancer, Ethan & Poole, Maxwell & Deng, Qi, 2021. "Emoji, Playfulness, and Brand Engagement on Twitter," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 96-110.
    2. Chawla, Yash & Chodak, Grzegorz, 2021. "Social media marketing for businesses: Organic promotions of web-links on Facebook," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 49-65.
    3. Kim, Juran & Kang, Seungmook & Lee, Ki Hoon, 2021. "Evolution of digital marketing communication: Bibliometric analysis and network visualization from key articles," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 552-563.
    4. Cheshin, Arik & Rafaeli, Anat & Bos, Nathan, 2011. "Anger and happiness in virtual teams: Emotional influences of text and behavior on others' affect in the absence of non-verbal cues," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 2-16, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chun Yang & Xuqi Chen & Jie Sun & Wei Wei & Wei Miao & Chao Gu, 2022. "Could Surplus Food in Blind Box Form Increase Consumers’ Purchase Intention?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Xiao, Tingwen & Wei, Haiying & Chen, Siyun, 2024. "Prominent or subtle: The impact of brand prominence on social media advertisement engagement," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Kumar, V. & Rajan, Bharath & Gupta, Shaphali, 2025. "Tracing the evolution of the marketing discipline through the lens of theory and Practice: A journal-centric view," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    4. Nuria Gamero & Baltasar González-Anta & Virginia Orengo & Ana Zornoza & Vicente Peñarroja, 2021. "Is Team Emotional Composition Essential for Virtual Team Members’ Well-Being? The Role of a Team Emotional Management Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-19, April.
    5. Li, Ting & Cai, Lanhui & Liu, Yanfeng & Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin, 2024. "From a functional service to an emotional ‘saviour’: A structural analysis of logistics values for in-home consumers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Federico Mangiò & Giuseppe Pedeliento & Daniela Andreini & Lia Zarantonello, 2024. "How persuasive is woke brand communication on social media? Evidence from a consumer engagement analysis on Facebook," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(4), pages 345-381, July.
    7. Abu Bashar & Mohammad Wasiq & Brighton Nyagadza & Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri, 2024. "Emerging trends in social media marketing: a retrospective review using data mining and bibliometric analysis," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
    8. Kull, Alexander J. & Romero, Marisabel & Monahan, Lisa, 2021. "How may I help you? Driving brand engagement through the warmth of an initial chatbot message," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 840-850.
    9. Almaguer, Jacob & Felix, Reto & Harmeling, Colleen M., 2025. "Emoji marketing: Toward a theory of brand paralinguistics," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 95-112.
    10. Bashirzadeh, Yashar & Mai, Robert & Faure, Corinne, 2022. "How rich is too rich? Visual design elements in digital marketing communications," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 58-76.
    11. Mihlali Maraule & Rodney Duffett & Tudor Edu, 2025. "Modeling emoji online marketing on websites among young consumers: the moderation effect of age," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    12. Jungwoo Lee & Cheong Kim & Kun Chang Lee, 2021. "Investigating the Negative Effects of Emojis in Facebook Sponsored Ads for Establishing Sustainable Marketing in Social Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, April.
    13. Abad-Segura, Emilio & González-Zamar, Mariana Daniela & López-Meneses, Eloy, 2022. "El proceso de toma de decisiones basado en métodos cuantitativos [Analysis of research on decision making-based on quantitative methods]," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 34(1), pages 118-136, December.
    14. Alina Rydzewska & Danuta Szwajca, 2024. "Cutting-Edge Digital Tools in the Area of Marketing Communication and Sales Used by SMEs versus Economic Results- Evidence from Poland," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 109-134.
    15. Avneet Kaur & Sujata Khandai & Jones Mathew, 2023. "Mapping the Field of Social Media Engagement: A Literature Review Using Bibliometric Analysis," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(4), pages 368-385, December.
    16. Christoph Laubert & Jennifer Parlamis, 2019. "Are You Angry (Happy, Sad) or Aren’t You? Emotion Detection Difficulty in Email Negotiation," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 377-413, April.
    17. Yu, Joanne & Dickinger, Astrid & So, Kevin Kam Fung & Egger, Roman, 2024. "Artificial intelligence-generated virtual influencer: Examining the effects of emotional display on user engagement," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    18. Cheshin, Arik & Amit, Adi & van Kleef, Gerben A., 2018. "The interpersonal effects of emotion intensity in customer service: Perceived appropriateness and authenticity of attendants' emotional displays shape customer trust and satisfaction," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 97-111.
    19. Tobias Maiberger & David Schindler & Nicole Koschate-Fischer, 2024. "Let’s face it: When and how facial emojis increase the persuasiveness of electronic word of mouth," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 119-139, January.
    20. Michael Filzmoser & Patrick Hippmann & Rudolf Vetschera, 2016. "Analyzing the Multiple Dimensions of Negotiation Processes," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 1169-1188, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D87 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Neuroeconomics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ahh:wpaper:worms2113. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/kbpwrpl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.