2019
DOI: 10.1108/jsm-10-2018-0289
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Empathy for service: benefits, unintended consequences, and future research agenda

Abstract: Purpose Empathy is a core characteristic of helping and caring interactions and thus is fundamental to service. Yet, to date, service marketing literature has focused on a restricted view of the value of empathy as it leads to improved service quality perceptions and successful sales outcomes. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the empathy literature and the dispositional and situational factors affecting it, so as to further explore its potential benefits and limitations for service. Design/met… Show more

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Cited by 70 publications
(57 citation statements)
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References 95 publications
(112 reference statements)
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“…This indicates that, contrary to what was hypothesized, the market appears to penalize empathy in the context earnings uncertainty brought about by an earnings surprise. This finding is contrary to prior research purporting that empathy may yield positive organizational outcomes for some business functions (e.g., Bove, 2019) and suggests that this relationship may be opposite in the context of communication between top managers and shareholders. A possible explanation for this negative effect may be that shareholders perceive empathy as a possible form of impression management or ingratiation, which would not be an adequate discretionary disclosure strategy under certain circumstances (Merkl‐Davies & Brennan, 2007) and may not be welcomed by shareholders.…”
Section: Discussioncontrasting
confidence: 99%
“…This indicates that, contrary to what was hypothesized, the market appears to penalize empathy in the context earnings uncertainty brought about by an earnings surprise. This finding is contrary to prior research purporting that empathy may yield positive organizational outcomes for some business functions (e.g., Bove, 2019) and suggests that this relationship may be opposite in the context of communication between top managers and shareholders. A possible explanation for this negative effect may be that shareholders perceive empathy as a possible form of impression management or ingratiation, which would not be an adequate discretionary disclosure strategy under certain circumstances (Merkl‐Davies & Brennan, 2007) and may not be welcomed by shareholders.…”
Section: Discussioncontrasting
confidence: 99%
“…Cognitive empathy allows individuals to understand the roles or perspectives of others [42], which is referred to as mind reading [43] or perspective-taking [44]. Affective empathy describes an emotional reaction that enables the understanding of others' feelings or affective status [20,44]. In the context of service literature on consumers' perception of service quality, empathy is identified as one factor of the five service quality dimensions [20].…”
Section: Empathymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Affective empathy describes an emotional reaction that enables the understanding of others' feelings or affective status [20,44]. In the context of service literature on consumers' perception of service quality, empathy is identified as one factor of the five service quality dimensions [20]. Empathetic service delivers social signals through which the service can take the perspective of consumers and respond to those who are in need or distress [21].…”
Section: Empathymentioning
confidence: 99%
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