Building citizen trust to enhance satisfaction in digital public services

The role of empathetic chatbot communication

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21452016
AutoresMingxi Zhou (0000-0002-7081-0901, Harbin Institute of Technology), Meihua Zhou (0000-0003-4981-9407, Harbin Institute of Technology), Luning Liu (0000-0002-5539-5623, Harbin Institute of Technology, autor de correspondencia), Yuqiang Feng (0000-0002-8084-569X, Harbin Institute of Technology)
Año2025
Volumen44
Número16
Páginas3859-3878
Fecha de publicación2025-10-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBehaviour and Information Technology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0144-929X • E-ISSN: 1362-3001
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0144929x.2025.2451763
OpenAlexW4406674663
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas74

The use of chatbots in digital public services is becoming increasingly widespread, and therefore, it is necessary to foster citizens’ trust in chatbots to enhance their satisfaction with such services. Although empathy is recognised as a critical component of public service interactions, research regarding empathetic chatbot communication in the public sector remains limited. This study applies the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework to explore the mechanisms and boundary conditions of empathetic chatbot expressions. The findings from a scenario-based online experiment involving 297 Chinese participants demonstrate that empathetic expressions significantly enhance both affective and cognitive trust, which further boost users’ satisfaction with digital public services. Notably, previous experience with chatbots and the anthropomorphism of the chatbot identity moderate the effectiveness of empathetic expressions. Overall, this study highlights the advantages and boundary conditions of empathetic expressions in public service chatbots, thereby providing valuable insights for their design and application in the context of digital public services

Business · Chatbot · Internet privacy · Knowledge management · Political science · Public relations · World Wide Web · AI in Service Interactions · Computer Science · Cyberloafing and Workplace Behavior · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Psychology