article · Young Consumers Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers
Digital marketing communications increasingly incorporate emojis to convey emotions and clarify messaging. An investigation into Generation Z consumers in South Africa evaluated how trust, involvement, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness affect engagement and purchasing intent when emojis appear in digital outreach. Based on a survey of one thousand young consumers analysed via structural equation modelling, the findings show consistent positive connections among these factors. Consumer involvement links directly to perceived ease of use and usefulness, while trust, involvement, and perceived usefulness all drive higher customer engagement. Furthermore, stronger customer engagement, trust, and perceived usefulness directly elevate intention to purchase. These insights suggest that integrating emojis into brand communications allows organisations operating in emerging markets to connect effectively with youth audiences who value relatable digital messaging.
Generation Z consumers look for brands that communicate in accessible, authentic ways. Showing how emojis influence trust, engagement, and buying intent helps marketers understand how visual language affects consumer decisions. For businesses targeting young audiences in emerging markets, using emojis effectively provides a practical method to improve communication clarity and foster stronger customer relationships.
Marketing teams, advertising agencies, and consumer brands can directly apply these insights to refine their digital campaigns and social media communication strategies targeting Generation Z. Because the study provides applied empirical evidence based on consumer responses rather than a new technology, the findings are ready for immediate real-world use in commercial content creation, campaign design, and brand messaging across emerging markets.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Purpose Emojis are quickly becoming a popular new language in social media and marketing. The capability to express emotions and make message understanding easier is one of the primary reasons for using emojis. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and involvement on customer engagement due to emojis used in digital marketing communications among Generation Z (Gen Z) in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach Following the descriptive research approach, quantitative research was used in this study. A questionnaire (self-administered) was utilized to test the effectiveness of using emojis among 1,000 young consumers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The findings of the study yielded positive relationships between the variables, namely between trust and involvement; involvement and the perceived ease of use; involvement and perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness; trust and customer engagement; perceived usefulness and customer engagement; involvement and customer engagement; customer engagement and intention to purchase; trust and intention to purchase; and perceived usefulness and intention to purchase. Practical implications This study can help organizations in emerging markets use emojis in their digital marketing communications to engage customers and stimulate intention to purchase among young people, especially the Gen Z cohort, who seek organizations and brands that understand and connect with them. Originality/value By investigating the effects of emojis in digital marketing communications, this study contributes to the customer-centric process and the literature on emoji usage while also involving a credible digital language when communicating with members of Gen Z. By extending TAM, the findings of this study contribute to the TAM literature by demonstrating that emoji usage in digital marketing communications positively influences various attitudinal associations among Gen Z consumers.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1108/yc-08-2023-1817
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
