Engaging consumers in mobile instant messaging: the role of cute branded emoticons

Date18 November 2019
Published date18 November 2019
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-08-2018-1997
Pages849-863
AuthorCrystal T. Lee,Sara H. Hsieh
Subject MatterMarketing
Engaging consumers in mobile instant
messaging: the role of cute branded emoticons
Crystal T. Lee
College of Management, Wenzhou Business College, Wenzhou City, China, and
Sara H. Hsieh
Department of Business Administration, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose With the rapid surge of mobile marketing, an increasing number of brands have launched branded emoticons in an attempt to build
brand relationships with consumers. Despite the apparent promise of branded emoticon usage, there is only limited academic research on branded
emoticons. This paper aims to build on impression management theory and the conceptualization of cuteness to investigate how the effect of
cuteness in branded emoticon design inuences perceived playfulness in mobile instant messaging (MIM) interacti on and the creation of brand
engagement in self-concept.
Design/methodology/approach Consumers with usage experience of branded emoticons in MIM apps were recruited to complete an online
survey. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyze the data.
Findings Two facets of cuteness kindchenschema cuteness and whimsical cuteness can project a favourable social image to consumers that
facilitates playfulness in social interaction and enhances brand engagement in self-concept, which leads to their wi llingness to purchase the brand
and stickiness to the MIM apps.
Originality/value The popularity of branded emoticons represents a new form of social interaction and an innovative way to build brand
relationships. The present study is the rst to examine the design aspects of branded emoticons and highlights that the cuteness of a branded
emoticon may be a crucial factor in engaging consumers in MIM.
Keywords Brand engagement, Impression management, Perceived playfulness
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The use of mobile instant messaging (MIM) to communicate
has become a worldwide phenomenon as smartphones have
transformed the way people interact. A unique feature of MIM
is that it allows the consumer to communicate with text and
with emoticons, which are graphic visuals that help consumers
express their emotions more clearly than text messages alone
(Hsieh and Tseng, 2017;Kaye et al., 2016). With the massive
increase in the number of mobile messaging app users, sending
emoticons in mobile messages has also gained tremendous
worldwide popularity. These non-verbal graphic cues have
been rapidly adopted in online communication to
communicate emotions and to support written text content;
they may even sometimes replace text (Kaye et al.,2016;
Thompson and Filik, 2016). Nearly, 814 million emoticon-
containing mobile messages were sent worldwide in 2016, a
461 per cent increase over 2015 (eMarketer, 2016).Emoticons
are everywhere and are created in various onlineplatforms; it is
estimated that more than 2,700 ofcial emoji wereavailable for
usage in 2018 (Das et al.,2019). Emoticons are adopted in
almost 50 per cent of communication on Instagram
(eMarketer, 2018). To leverage the popularity of emoticons,
brands are offering branded emoticons to build brand
relationships with consumers (Codina, 2015;Das et al., 2019;
Lee, 2017). Brands such as Pepsi, Starbucks and IKEA are
making substantial investments in this digital languagein an
effort to develop effective engagement (Becker, 2016). Baskin-
Robbins uses cuteice cream cone emoticons and Dominos uses
pizza emoticons in tweets to engage and interact with
consumers (Das et al.,2019). The more that consumers use the
branded emoticonsprovided by brands, the more likely it is that
a close interaction will be established between the brands and
consumers, which may build more favourable brand attitudes
among consumers and ultimately affect their brand purchase
decisions (Lee, 2017). As a result, an increasing number of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
28/7 (2019) 849863
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-08-2018-1997]
This work was supported by the Humanity and Social Science Youth
foundation of Ministry of Education of China under project Investigation
the underlying mechanism of brand evangelism in online brand
communitiesgrant number [17YJC630075]. The author wishes to thank
Three Squirrels and Tmall.com for permission to reproduce their branded
emotions and Isken Huang, Anita Lee and Cacelert Yang for generous
help with permission collection.
The authors would also like to thank the 3 anonymous referees of this
journal for their constructive comments, and the Editor for his support and
encouragement.
Received 21 August 2018
Revised 25 January 2019
19 March 2019
Accepted 19 March 2019
849

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