Publication Title

Education Sciences

Document Type

Article

Abstract/Description

Online learning environments often lack nonverbal cues that support relational communication between instructors and students, making it difficult to establish emotional connection and trust. This study examines how emojis, as affective visual cues, influence instructor credibility, emotional attachment, trust, and responsible behavior in asynchronous online education. A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 297 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to view an instructor email either with or without emojis. Participants subsequently evaluated the instructor’s credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability), as well as their emotional attachment, trust, and anticipated responsible behavior. The results indicate that emojis significantly enhance perceived likeability, which in turn fosters emotional attachment and trust. These relational mechanisms subsequently promote students’ responsible behavior. In contrast, expertise and trustworthiness do not independently produce significant effects on emotional attachment or trust. These findings highlight the central role of relational warmth in shaping student responses in digitally mediated learning environments. Overall, the study demonstrates that subtle affective cues can strengthen instructor–student relationships and encourage responsible engagement in asynchronous online contexts.

Department

Management and Finance

First Page

734

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16050734

Volume

16

Issue

5

ISSN

2227-7102

Date

5-6-2026

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