Does a text feel naked without an emoji?

Four in 10 Americans believe a text feels naked without an emoji, according to new research.

The survey of 2,000 Americans (aged 21+) revealed 41% of respondents believe a message needs to include an emoji to be complete.

Younger respondents were most likely to agree with this statement: 70% of Gen Z said emoji needed to be included within a message, compared to 46% of Gen X.

But messages shouldn’t consist solely of emoji, as 32% of respondents said it’s a “conversation killer.”

Conducted by Talker Research ahead of World Emoji Day on July 17, the survey revealed 58% of respondents believe emoji improve how we talk to each other.

This is in line with a shift in the cultural lexicon, wherein emoji now are now used to represent emotions people have trouble expressing in words. With that, brands are experimenting with how they can use emoji to communicate, incorporating them into campaigns to ensure they’re “speaking” this new form of language.

In recognition of the growing role that emoji have in our shared language, Smirnoff has created their own version of the “woman dancing” emoji ( ) and have worked to bring it to life.

Smirnoff’s latest campaign has the “emoji,” named Spicy Tam, coming off screens and into the real world, donning her iconic red dress and signature pose.

While people might not be able to bring their favorite emoji to life anytime soon, results found they do want even more from their emoji experience.

With the upcoming release of Apple’s iOS 18, which will allow users to create custom emojis using the “Genmoji” feature, respondents were asked if they’d be interested in creating their own emojis.

Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed would like to invent an emoji — and they were asked to share what these new emoji would look like.

Notable responses include a “little witch” emoji, a skull with heart eyes emoji and an upside-down emoji with a cowboy hat — while someone else said they’d appreciate “various cocktail emojis.”

The survey revealed that 58% of emoji users prefer happy emoji, such as smiling or laughing faces, while 15% gravitate toward sweeter emoji such as hearts or kisses.

Some respondents (4%) lean toward adding some flavor into their chats by choosing more spicy emoji such as the smirking face or the dancing woman.

Regardless of their preference, with only 5% of respondents admitting they don’t use emoji in their daily conversations — it looks like this form of communication is here to stay.

MOST FREQUENTLY USED EMOJIS

• Smiling face ( ) — 23%
• Red heart ( ) — 21%
• Thumbs up ( ) — 18%
• Rolling on the floor laughing ( ) — 17%
• Face with tears of joy ( ) — 14%
• Kissing face ( ) — 12%
• Smiley face with heart eyes ( ) — 12%
• Grinning face with smiling eyes ( ) — 9%
• Blushing face with hearts ( ) — 9%
• Touching hands (prayer, high five, etc.) ( ) — 8%

Survey methodology:

This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 general population Americans was fielded between June 28 and July 2, 2024. It was conducted by market research company Talker Research , whose team members are members of the Market Research Society ( MRS ) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research ( ESOMAR ).

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.

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