Pictographs, Ideograms, and Emojis (PIE): A Framework for Empirical Research Using Non-verbal Cues

Abstract

We propose an empirical framework to understand the impact of non-verbal cues across various research contexts. A large percentage of communication on the Internet uses text-driven non-verbal communication cues often referred to as emojis. Our framework proposes two types of factors to understand the impact of emojis. The first type consists of pictographs, ideograms, and emojis (PIE) factors such as usage, valence, position, and skin tone, and the second type consists of contextual factors depending on the research context, such as fake news, which has high social impact. We discuss how the effect of PIE factors and contextual factors can be used to measure belief, trust, reputation, and intentions across these contexts.