The Era of Emoji Marketing: Strengthening the Consumer-Brand Relationship

摘要

Brands communicate and engage directly with their consumers using online communications that often contain emojis. While emerging studies have begun to examine the influence of emojis within a marketing context, yet to understand is the influence of emojis on the consumer-brand relationship. In this research, we argue that the emotions conveyed by emojis improve brand communications with important downstream consequences that help strengthen the consumer-brand dyad. Across three studies, we find that brands that use emojis in online communications are perceived as more human, and thus enhances consumers' self-brand connections. Findings from this research contribute to marketing theory by providing a comprehensive understanding of the influence of emoji marketing on the consumer-brand relationship. Results derived from this study will also allow marketing managers to strategically plan online brand communications to help cultivate the consumer asset by driving connections and nurturing a positive relationship between consumer and brand.