A comprehensive study from the Department of Unfinished Actions has mapped the complex landscape of email sign-off perception, finding that appropriateness varies significantly by time of day, sender-recipient relationship, and regional context.
Dr. Yuki Tanaka and her team analyzed responses from 3,200 participants who evaluated identical emails differing only in their closing salutation.
Key findings include:
- "Best" is perceived as 23% colder when received before noon compared to after 3 PM
- "Cheers" triggers mild suspicion in 67% of American recipients when used by other Americans, but is considered appropriate when the sender is known to be British
- "Warm regards" is deemed "trying too hard" by 45% of respondents under 35, but "appropriately professional" by 72% of respondents over 50
- "Thanks!" with an exclamation point is perceived as sincere for first-time emails but passive-aggressive in ongoing threads
- No sign-off at all is increasingly acceptable but still interpreted as "abrupt" by 38% of recipients
"The email sign-off has become a minefield of unwritten rules," Dr. Tanaka observed. "People agonize over these three words more than the body of the message. Our research suggests this anxiety is justified—recipients do make judgments based on these choices."
The study also found that 12% of respondents have a dedicated "sign-off rotation" to avoid appearing robotic, while 8% report having changed their sign-off after a single negative reaction.
The full paper will appear in the next issue of the Journal of Overlooked Phenomena.