The predominant digital media platforms such as email and messenger services omit non-verbal cues and generally adopt a more subdued and factual tone. However, as previous research has repeatedly confirmed, the display of emotions by managers is crucial for the motivation and job satisfaction of their employees. However, emotions are usually expressed through non-verbal communication, such as facial expressions and voice, which is lost in the digital context, especially in written communication. This poses a major challenge for managers and the aim of Furtner and Liegl was to find out whether emojis could be a means of enriching managers' written communication with emotions or whether they are more likely to be perceived as inappropriate for the work context.
Furtner and Liegl conducted two experiments with quasi-nonverbal signals to gain insights into the benefits and risks of emoji in leadership communication. Their results show that positive emojis have a place in leadership communication and have the potential to improve the attribution of desirable characteristics of the leader, approval of the leader and their behavior towards others when the right conditions are in place. Positive emojis (e.g. π or π) can make a manager appear more charismatic, increase the willingness to cooperate and spread a more positive mood in the company.
Negative emojis (e.g. π or π ), on the other hand, should be used with caution. They may create a negative image of the manager among their employees, undermine their competence and convey a negative mood, especially if they are not related to a specific performance evaluation. Interestingly, Liegl and Furtner also found that these effects are more pronounced in control-oriented hierarchical companies than in the innovative start-up context. One possible explanation: In the latter, emojis are already used more frequently and therefore have a less direct and strong influence on employees. In traditional companies, on the other hand, managers can create a more positive working atmosphere by communicating with positive emojis. They were thus able to show for the first time that there is untapped potential in emojis to make management communication in the digital space more efficient and personal.
Their results thus allow conclusions to be drawn about how employees are likely to react to certain quasi-nonverbal displays and provide managers with recommendations for adapting their affective signals to elicit the desired responses.
The article has been accepted for publication in the internationally renowned journal "Computers in Human Behavior" (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108148).