I don't think that is what they are talking about. Users can be sad. But they cannot claim ownership of a money they "spent". It is not their money anymore.
It is influenced by the language and culture. For example mask on the face emoji is usually read so. But in some asian cultures it has a religious meaning.
These emojis are used while communicating in native language or even in transliteration via english.
Not to critique on the article, but as a general suggestion, it would be great if people don't use emojis as a scale. Unless it shows a specific character like number emojis, they are sometimes read differently by people from different language backgrounds. So what the author might be trying to say might lead to misunderstandings.