Effect of pictograms in text-messaging on impression formation of female students

Abstract

This article examines the role of pictograms in text-messaging. Past research has shown that using emoticons in casual e-mail messages facilitates friendly impressions, while using emoticons in more formal and polite messages hinders sincere impressions of the sender. To examine how pictograms in text-messaging affects impressions of the sender, one-hundred and five female students were presented with different text-messages varying in pictogram use and message formality, and were subsequently asked to rate the impressions of each sender on multiple dimensions. The results showed a significant main effect of pictogram use as well as an interaction effect of pictograms and message formality. Use of pictograms generally facilitated favorable and friendly impressions towards the sender. However, whereas lack of pictograms leads to less sincere impressions for casual messages, pictograms did not affect sincerity for formal messages. The important role of pictograms in conveying emotional information in text-messaging is discussed.View full abstract