Emotional expressions are ubiquitous in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication, but their effect on eWOM persuasiveness and the underlying mechanisms in the context of social networking services (SNS) have been underexplored. This research focuses on an extensively used nonverbal emotional cue in computer-mediated communication—the emoticon. Drawing on the emotion as social information model (EASI), we propose a conceptual framework to understand whether, how, and when emoticons influence the persuasiveness of eWOM on SNS. Results from a field experiment and a series of online experiments show that emoticons can increase eWOM persuasiveness through the mediating effects of enhanced recipient empathy and trust toward the sender and that these effects vary across situations. Specifically, the persuasive effect of emoticons occurs for both positive and negative eWOM when recipients and senders are close to each other. However, this effect occurs only for negative eWOM when recipients and senders have distant relationships. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and identify several opportunities for future research.

中文翻译：

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表情符号在社交网络服务电子口碑传播中的说服力

情绪表达在电子口碑 (eWOM) 传播中无处不在，但它们对电子口碑说服力的影响以及社交网络服务 (SNS) 背景下的潜在机制尚未得到充分探索。这项研究的重点是在计算机介导的交流中广泛使用的非语言情感暗示——表情符号。利用情感作为社会信息模型 (EASI)，我们提出了一个概念框架来理解表情符号是否、如何以及何时影响 SNS 上网络口碑的说服力。现场实验和一系列在线实验的结果表明，表情符号可以通过增强接收者对发送者的同理心和信任的中介作用来提高网络口碑的说服力，并且这些影响因情况而异。具体来说，当收件人和发件人彼此靠近时，表情符号的说服效果会同时出现在正面和负面的网络口碑中。然而，当收件人和发件人关系疏远时，这种影响只发生在负面电子口碑上。我们讨论了这些发现的理论和实践意义，并确定了未来研究的几个机会。