Emoji Marketing: Strengthening the Consumer Brand Relationship and Its Downstream Effects

Brands communicate and engage directly with their consumers using online communications that often contain emojis. While recent research has examined some of the implications of emojis within marketing contexts, a question still remains regarding the role of emojis in the consumer-brand relationship, and how this digital language can create stronger connections with consumers. In this research, I find that emojis increase perceptions of the brand as a human, thereby enhancing consumer-brand connections with favorable downstream consumption consequences such as word of mouth, click through rates, brand attitudes, willingness to pay, and purchase behaviors. Findings from this research contribute to marketing theory by extending our knowledge of the influence of new technologies, such as emojis in the digital marketplace. Additionally, these findings advance our understanding of emojis (both facial and non-facial emojis) as a digital language that allows brands to communicate with consumers in a more relatable manner. Consequently, marketing managers can be equipped with this information to strategically plan digital brand communications to include emojis and nurture a closer relationship between consumer and brand