Reply Speed as Nonverbal Cue in Text Messaging with a Read Receipt Display Function

Abstract

In text messaging via mobile devices, many users face pressure to rapidly exchange messages. This study investigates reply speeds in smartphone messaging, focusing on messaging with a read receipt function, which notifies the sender of whether the recipient has read a sent message. Using a questionnaire targeting 213 female college students in Japan, we investigate the time until negative emotions (sadness, anxiety, anger and guilt) which occur while waiting for a reply. The authors also address factors of messaging dependency, and find that negative emotions arise in significantly less time when waiting for a reply to a read message than an unread one. Further, most negative emotions occur significantly earlier in high-dependency groups than in low-dependency groups when waiting for a reply in either status. These effects differed in part depending on the type of emotion and recipient. The authors discuss these findings in the context of reply speed as a nonverbal cue.