The anticipatory effect of nonverbal communication

- We study the anticipatory effect of nonverbal communication on generosity.
- In a dictator game the dictator splits a sum of money with a recipient.
- The recipient expresses approval and disapproval via emoticons.
- Anticipation of emoticons discourages selfish behavior by dictators.
- The observed effect is weaker than anticipation of a verbal response.

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.