When Do Emojis Work on Social Media Brand Pages? Brand Role as a Boundary

Although emojis are widely used on social media brand pages, their effectiveness remains unclear. Drawing on the brand anthropomorphism literature, this research proposes that emojis function as anthropomorphic cues that simultaneously increase perceived warmth while decreasing perceived competence, and that their effectiveness depends on the role consumers assign to the brand. Two between-subjects experiments were conducted to test the proposed framework. Study 1 demonstrates that emoji use increases perceived warmth but decreases perceived competence and that these competing perceptions mediate the relationship between emoji use and purchase intention. Study 2 shows that brand role serves as a critical boundary condition. Specifically, emojis increase purchase intention for partner brands through enhanced perceived warmth, whereas they decrease purchase intention for servant brands through reduced perceived competence. By identifying brand role as a determinant of the psychological mechanism underlying emoji effectiveness, this research extends the brand anthropomorphism literature to the context of social media communication. The findings also provide practical guidance by suggesting that emoji use should be aligned with the role and image a brand seeks to communicate.