The anticipatory effect of nonverbal communication

C-Tier
Journal: Economics Letters
Year: 2016
Volume: 144
Issue: C
Pages: 45-48

Authors (2)

Brook, Rebecca (not in RePEc) Servátka, Maroš (Macquarie University)

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Is nonverbal communication capable of affecting economic outcomes? We study the effect of anticipated approval and disapproval, expressed through emoticons, on generosity and show that it discourages selfish behavior. In our experiment subjects play a one-shot dictator game at the end of which the recipient can respond to the allocation by drawing an emoticon and sending it back to the dictator. While the observed effect of nonverbal communication is somewhat weaker than the anticipation of a verbal response, our results provide evidence that people are willing to trade-off pecuniary gains to avoid disapproval or seek approval of their peers and that the sheer anticipation of receiving a response, even nonverbal, is sufficient to change their behavior.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecolet:v:144:y:2016:i:c:p:45-48
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29