The Influence of Emoticons on the Perception of Job Related Emails An Analysis Based on the Four Ear Model
Non verbal communication cues and their surrogates in computermediated communication, emoticons, can influence how a message is understood. Based on the four ear model, we examine in detail at which levels of communication emoticons affect message perception. Using a factorial survey with a treatment control group design (N 104) our findings suggest that emoticons do not influence the understanding of a message at the content level. However, we show that they significantly influence the metamessage. These findings hold important theoretical and practical implications: First, our results help to explain the mixed results of previous studies on the effects of emoticon usage on message interpretation. Second, we show that emoticons are a means to convey contextual information over and above the raw content of the message, especially at the self revelation and relationship level. However, this does not come without a price: Emoticons dilute the effects of job related emails at the appeal level.