The wrong face at the wrong time: perceptions of emoji use and language fit between chatbots and humans in computer-mediated communication
Austin J. Beattie, David Westerman · Review of Communication · 2026
With the growing popularity of human–machine communication (HMC) and emoji alike, examining emoji use from chatbots informs understanding of multiple contexts of communication. Past research shows that variances between emoji and message congruency significantly influence message interpretation and impressions of message source. Emoji use that might not necessarily “fit” the message it accompanies may occur more as humans and chatbots establish interaction scripts in mediated communication. Therefore, examining perceptions of the degree to which an emoji aligns with its verbal message informs a nuanced understanding of computer–mediated communication (CMC) and HMC. The current research conceptualizes message fit with emoji along the lines of congruent (consistent or agreeing with its verbal message), incongruent (inconsistent or disagreeing with its verbal message), and nonadjacent (seemingly unrelated entirely to its verbal message) and investigated how this use of emoji influenced perceptions of interpersonal attractiveness, CMC competence, source credibility, and perceived humanness of chatbots and people. The results suggest that incongruent use of emoji was associated with lower ratings of appropriateness, effectiveness, clarity, competence, trustworthiness, and perceived humanness than using other types of emoji. Results are discussed in relation to social processes and current applications of emoji and machine agents.