Investigation of the Effect of Individuals' Empathy Levels on the Perception of eWOM Messages by Electroencephalography (EEG)

Abstract

With the advancement of technology, word of mouth (WOM), which is an important channel for consumer communication, has moved to the online world, and the concept of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has taken its place in the literature. Many demographic and psychological factors shape the effect of eWOM messages on consumer decisions. One of them has been reported as empathy levels. Despite the indirect emphasis on empathy in the consumer behavior literature, no study directly addresses whether the degree of empathy has affected consumer perception of eWOM messages. Based on this research gap, this study aims to determine the effect of the consumers' empathy degree on the positive, and negative e-WOM messages, which are to be handled with the electroencephalography (EEG) method, which is one of the neuroscience techniques. At the first step of the study, an experimental design that included positive and negative eWOM comments on eight brands was prepared through the Paradigm program. Then, the empathy levels of the 65 participants included in the experiment were determined, and low- high-empathy experimental groups were formed. During the experiment, the cognitive activities of individuals were recorded with EEG. Data on participants' empathy levels and cognitive activities against eWOM comments were subjected to independent sample t-test analysis via the SPSS program. As a result of the analyses carried out, it was determined that the p300 amplitude in the parietal region differed significantly in the face of positive and negative eWOM messages from individuals with low and high empathy levels. In other words, it has been determined that the effect of eWOM messages on individuals differs according to the level of empathy exhibited by individuals. It is foreseen that the results obtained will help understand the effect of empathy, which indicates individual motivation and will benefit practitioners in using eWOM platforms, which are critical for today’s online organizations.