The nudging effect of emojis in environmental tip options

Abstract

Intervening in customer green behaviors is an important strategy for restaurants and hotels committed to environmental practices. Recent research has shifted from traditional interventions to nudging strategies. Emojis, as a visual language capable of conveying emotions or semantics, are highly popular on social media. However, current studies have scarcely addressed whether emojis can serve as a nudging strategy to enhance consumers’ green behavior. Based on this, our research investigates the nudging role of emojis in restaurant environmental messages through the visual priming effect. The study found through three experiments that: (1) emojis in restaurant environmental tip options significantly increase customers’ green behavior intentions; (2) feelings of elevation and guilt mediate this effect; (3) the importance of environmental values significantly moderates the impact. This research contributes to the literature on emojis and green behaviors, offering practical insights for the hospitality industry’s environmental practices.