Computer-mediated communication allows people to communicate across several contexts (e.g., friends, professional settings) by using video-based or text-based channels. In the latter case, communication lacks nonverbal cues (e.g., tone of voice) that are critical to message interpretation. Including emoji can help express emotion and reinforce or clarify the meaning of a message. However, the benefits of using emoji are likely to depend on the context (e.g., the relationship between interlocutors) and the messages' features (e.g., the valence of the message). To date, studies have not systematically and empirically examined how the use of emoji is perceived across different communication scenarios. In the current study, we asked 175 participants (49.5 percent women; M_age = 36.32, SD = 12.22) to imagine receiving either a negative or a positive message from 22 senders (e.g., friend; bank manager) and to indicate, for each case, how much they would like to receive an emoji and how useful and appropriate they considered the use of emoji. These ratings were combined into a single index of emoji use adequacy. Based on factor analysis, the 22 scenarios were aggregated in distant and close scenarios. Overall, results showed that participants considered emoji use more inadequate in distant (vs. close) scenarios and for negative (vs. positive) messages. These findings suggest that the perceived benefits of emoji use for text-based communication may not be generalized to all text-based communication contexts, such that relationship proximity and message valence should not be overlooked. Implications for the fields of consumer psychology and communication are discussed.

中文翻译：

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评估来自近距离和远距离发件人的正面和负面消息中表情符号使用的充分性

以计算机为媒介的交流允许人们通过使用基于视频或基于文本的渠道跨多种环境（例如，朋友、专业环境）进行交流。在后一种情况下，交流缺乏对信息解释至关重要的非语言线索（例如，语气）。包含表情符号可以帮助表达情感并强化或阐明信息的含义。然而，使用表情符号的好处可能取决于上下文（例如，对话者之间的关系）和消息的特征（例如，消息的效价）。迄今为止，研究还没有系统地和经验性地研究表情符号的使用是如何在不同的通信场景中被感知的。在当前的研究中，我们询问了 175 名参与者（49.5% 的女性；M_年龄 = 36.32，SD = 12.22) 想象收到来自 22 位发件人（例如，朋友；银行经理）的负面或正面消息，并针对每种情况指出他们希望收到表情符号的程度以及他们认为该使用的有用和适当程度的表情符号。这些评级被合并成一个表情符号使用充分性指数。基于因子分析，将 22 个场景汇总为远距离和近距离场景。总体而言，结果表明，参与者认为表情符号在遥远（与近距离）场景和负面（与正面）信息中的使用更加不充分。这些发现表明，表情符号用于基于文本的交流的感知好处可能无法推广到所有基于文本的交流环境，因此不应忽视关系接近度和消息效价。