Using emojis 'makes people think you're incompetent'

A study involving 500 participants from 29 countries, reported in August 2017, found that using smiley emojis in professional emails can make the sender appear less competent. The research analyzed how the icons affect workplace perceptions through several experiments where participants read similar work-related emails, some with smileys and some without. Contrary to the assumption that emojis convey friendliness, the researchers found that smileys did not increase perceptions of warmth.

Dr. Ella Glikson, from a university department of management, explained at the time that in formal business emails, a smiley is not equivalent to an actual smile. The study compared the use of smileys to photographs of the sender. While a smiling photograph influenced perceptions of friendliness, a smiley emoji did not. Additionally, when participants responded to formal emails, their replies were more detailed and contained more content-related information if the incoming email did not contain a smiley.

The researchers also analyzed the results in terms of gender. Participants were more likely to assume the sender of an email was a woman if the message contained smileys, though this assumption did not alter judgments of warmth. The study’s findings applied specifically to emails sent by strangers rather than communication between established co-workers.