In professional emails, a strictly formal tone isn't always ideal. Strong colleague relationships or a friendly office vibe often warrant some informality. That's why many add smiley emojis (☺) to messages. Yet, this common habit draws frowns in the workplace. A study by experts from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, University of Haifa, and the University of Amsterdam backs this up. They surveyed 549 participants across 29 countries, who evaluated the "warmth" of an unknown sender in professional emails. Content was identical except some versions included smileys. Key finding: Smileys had no effect on perceived warmth but significantly lowered views of the sender's competence.
Put simply, frequent smileys signal lower competence to recipients. Responses to emoji-free emails were more detailed and polished, implying recipients saw those senders as more skilled and worth a proper reply. Researchers went further, adding sender photos—some smiling, others neutral. Real smiles boosted competence and likability ratings, unlike emojis. Lead researcher Dr. Ella Glikson notes: "People think the smiley is a virtual smile, but our findings show that in the workplace, it isn't. For first interactions, skip smileys regardless of the recipient's age or gender." Wise guidance from peer-reviewed research.
