When emojis backfire

Principal Investigator: Qi Deng, Business Analytics
Project Title: When Emojis Backfire: Understanding the Effects of Emoji Schema Incongruity in Brand Social Media Communication
Funder: SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Social media opens up new possibilities for interaction among brands and consumers, with benefits for brands including extended reach, increased brand awareness, and reinforced brand loyalty. Nevertheless, digital marketers have struggled to capitalize on the possibilities social media provides.

This research will focus on one tool these marketing professionals have at their disposal — the emoji — and create new knowledge that will help explain previous apparently contradictory effects of emoji use in brand communications. More specifically, the project will provide answers to two key questions:

1. When and why do consumers view brands’ emoji use negatively?
2. How does that negative perception hinder consumer engagement?

Ultimately, this research will not only clarify how brands’ use of emojis can help or hurt their online marketing efforts. It will also help us understand how emojis affect communication more broadly, making it of interest to the wide range of organizations (e.g., governments, nonprofits, educational institutions) who are increasingly turning to social media to communicate with their target audiences.