Match or mismatch: how emoji use shapes consumers’ perception of online reviews

Purpose The purpose of this research is to explore how text-emoji mismatch impacts consumers’ perceptions of authenticity and helpfulness in online reviews, examining the mediating effect of processing fluency and the moderating effects of response type and social distance. Design/methodology/approach Three between-subject experiments were conducted on Credamo and Wenjuanxing to test the hypotheses proposed in this research. The primary data analysis methods used were ANOVA and bootstrap analysis. Findings Study 1 found that consumers’ perceived helpfulness and authenticity of online reviews decline when the text and emojis do not match, with processing fluency mediating this effect. Study 2 revealed that humorous responses from firms to reviews with text-emoji mismatches enhance consumers’ perceived authenticity and helpfulness. Study 3 demonstrated that when potential consumers perceive a greater social distance from the reviewers, the negative impact of text-emoji mismatch is mitigated. Originality/value This study contributes to the fields of consumer reviews and emoji usage by examining how the relationship between emojis and text in online reviews (match vs. mismatch) affects consumers’ perceived authenticity and helpfulness. We also propose strategies for how firms can mitigate the negative impact of text-emoji mismatch.