Emoji Use as a Catalyst for Relationship Building and Sustaining Attention in Online Classes: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Motivating students and sustaining their attention are essential for online classes in higher education. In particular, effective and efficient online communication between students and professors serves as a core driver for increased learning motivation and sustained attention. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of emojis and professor-student email communication as methods of motivating students and sustaining their attention. Specifically, this study hypothesized that a professor’s use of emojis in a welcome letter could result in the enhancement of psychological relationships with student recipients, such as students’ perceived authenticity and intimacy with the professor, leading to increased intrinsic learning motivation and sustained attention in the professor’s online class. The sample for the study was comprised of 297 undergraduate students from public universities in the United States. Data was collected via a scenario-based survey approach. The empirical findings indicated that emojis in a professor’s welcome letter could lead students to perceive the professor as authentic and friendly, making students more intrinsically motivated and more inclined to pay attention in the professor’s online class. Theoretical implications for the education field and pedagogical implications for developing online classes in higher education were proposed.