Look on the bright side: Emojis impact tipping behaviour

Emoji, a form of textual paralanguage, have gained popularity as a method of non-verbal communication. Despite their popularity, little research has examined the strategic use of emojis by service-based businesses. In the current research, we show that the presence of emojis affects customer tipping behavior. Across three studies, we establish that when emojis are included with tip suggestions during the payment transaction, customers tip at a higher percentage than when no emojis are included. We also demonstrate that the presence of emojis increases the positive emotions experienced by customers during the payment transaction, which in turn positively impacts tipping percentage. The effects are replicated in both field and lab studies across a variety of contexts, including on-premise dining and third-party food delivery.