 Empathic chatbots: A double-edged sword in customer experiencesAntoine Juquelier, Ingrid Poncin and Simon Hazée Journal of Business Research, 2025, vol. 188, issue C Abstract: Recent breakthroughs in affective computing have enabled the shift from mechanical to empathic chatbots, now capable of detecting, decoding, and mimicking customers’ thoughts and feelings to respond appropriately. While artificial empathy is believed to potentially bridge the human-artificial intelligence gap in customer experience, recent studies offer mixed support for its effectiveness in improving customer outcomes, leaving managers perplexed about the added value of empathic chatbots. Building on social presence theory, this paper investigates whether, how, and when empathic chatbot-led services enhance customer experience. Results from three experiments show that empathic chatbots trigger perceptions of social presence and information quality, which positively influence customer satisfaction. The findings further reveal that empathic chatbots can harm customer experience under certain conditions, particularly when customers feel time pressure. This paper provides insights into how and when to implement empathy in chatbots to enhance customer experience and boost customer satisfaction. Keywords: Artificial empathy; Chatbot; Customer experience; Social presence; Information quality; Time pressure (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:188:y:2025:i:c:s0148296324005782 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115074 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier |
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