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Have emojis changed the world?
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Emojis are used by businesses to expand their customer base

Consumers are increasingly responsive to campaigns that integrate emojis. Both corporate and consumer behaviours have therefore adapted to the growing influence of emojis.
Advertising Business Capitalism Communications Emojis Financial
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Context

Global brands, from Dominoes to Disney, are now using emojis in their advertising campaigns to attract consumers to their brands.

The Argument

According to a 2019 Forbes article, emoticons are not simply new elements to our textual language, but have also become a significant tool in business. Vik Verma, CEO of 8x8, explains that emoticons have made communication far easier for his employees, and he believes their fast-paced environment cannot “afford miscommunications” anyway.[1][2] Domino’s Anyware Initiative now uses emoticons to make pizza sales. Instructions for this new system are online and even found on their napkin boxes inside Domino’s stores. A customer can text a code using a pizza emoji and once they set up their ordering account, they can enable pizza orders from Twitter, Facebook Messenger, the smart watch, and other messaging devices. Ordering a pizza can truly be as easy as an impulse-click.[3] ZoomInfo claims that emojis are an incredibly smart marketing tool because ZoomInfo's clients are likely from younger generations and more have grown up with emojis built into their textual lingual system. According to studies reported by ZoomInfo, 76% of Americans who filled out a survey even use emoji in their professional communication. 70% of people believe that emoticons actually express their internal life better than their words could.[4] According to studies reported by Campaign Live, there is significant proof that customers are more willing to engage with companies if they use emoji that they can relate to. 51% of participants said they are more likely to click on a company’s post if it uses emojis in general. 6 out of 10 people favor companies that use emojis that somehow speak to their own persona; in some ways, customers are looking to be able to relate to the companies they are involved with, and business are clearly picking up on this inclination.[5]

Counter arguments

According to Forbes, over 70% of employees participating in a survey said that they were nervous to use emojis in the workplace for fear of being perceived as unprofessional. Their worry is grounded in truth, because Forbes reports that a study in Social Psychological and Personality Science, emojis are considered markers of “incompetence” in a professional setting, perhaps in terms of ability to maturely communicate.[2] ZoomInfo reports that over 30% of older “employers” find emojis in a professional setting distasteful.[4] Data journalist Paul Hiebert on YouGov draws attention to data that points to potential damage in emoji use. While those between the ages of 18 and 34 believe that emojis lend clarity to communication, they and all other age groups believe that companies are beginning to “overdo it” with emojis, implying that companies do not have the effects they think they are having by employing emojis. After all, one click on a promotional email with emojis does not actually guarantee customer engagement. YouGov cites a recent Chevrolet commercial that used emojis in its narrative but received a substantial amount of dislikes on YouTube. Although companies might be attempting to employ emojis use to engage with customers, the nod to pop culture will not read for certain generations and seem disingenuous to others.[6]

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-pixar-emoji-keyboard-2016-7
  2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2019/09/07/emojis-an-essential-tool-for-innovative-business-communication-really/#74b9460fc9e6
  3. https://www.tatango.com/blog/how-it-works-text-message-a-pizza-emoji-to-order-dominos/
  4. https://blog.zoominfo.com/emoji-statistics-for-businesses/
  5. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/study-consumers-want-brands-use-favorite-emojis/1591235
  6. https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/11/17/consumers-tired-of-emojis
This page was last edited on Monday, 26 Oct 2020 at 13:17 UTC

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