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Effects of embodiment on digital empathy in virtual reality-enabled servicescape
DENG Nianqi, TANG Yifan, FAN Xiucheng, JIANG Xinyu
2025, 33 (7):
1140-1154.
doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2025.1140
The transformative reconstruction of servicescapes through immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has brought critical issues surrounding embodied engagement, emotional acquisition, and well-being in virtual spaces to the forefront of scholarly inquiry. This paper addresses a pivotal research gap by examining how marketer-consumer embodied engagement influences digital empathy and well-being in VR-enabled service contexts. While prior research has made significant strides in exploring VR applications in service domain, and a growing body of literature has begun investigating the relationship between embodiment engagement and empathy in virtual spaces, our comprehensive review reveals three critical research gaps that warrant further investigation in our study.
First, the field lacks a systematic theoretical framework that explicates the mechanism through which users’ embodied engagement in virtual spaces influences digital empathy. Furthermore, the conceptualization of digital empathy within interactive VR service experiences remains inadequately defined, particularly in terms of its distinct characteristics compared to traditional empathy constructs.
Second, existing studies predominantly rely on traditional empathy scales that were developed for real-world interpersonal contexts. Notably absent is a validated digital empathy scale specifically designed for technology-mediated environments where physical involvement is paramount. Although traditional empathy definitions share some conceptual overlap with virtual world empathy, they prove insufficient for comprehensively studying virtual interpersonal responses within technologically mediated environments. This gap highlights the need for scale development that captures the unique dimensions of digital empathy.
Third, extant research on embodied engagement and empathy in virtual spaces predominantly employs single-scenario designs and unidimensional perspectives. This constrained methodological approach significantly limits our understanding of the synergistic interplay among service context, user heterogeneity, and marketer-consumer interaction dynamics in shaping digital empathy formation and well-being outcomes. More importantly, prior studies have not adequately addressed how these multifaceted factors collectively influence the emergence and development of digital empathy in service scenarios where such empathetic responses are most likely to occur. This oversight represents a substantial theoretical gap, as it prevents a comprehensive understanding of the complex, interdependent relationships that characterize digital empathy in technology-mediated service environments.
Fourth, current research on embodied participation and empathy in virtual spaces predominantly adopts single-scenario and single-perspective approaches. This limited scope fails to systematically integrate the synergistic effects of service context, user heterogeneity, and marketer-consumer interaction perspectives on digital empathy formation and well-being outcomes. Specifically, prior work has not sufficiently examined how these factors collectively influence digital empathy in service scenarios where such empathy is likely to emerge.
Building on the literature review, we propose that digital empathy emerges as a distinct construct from human-computer and social interactions in digitally mediated environments, fundamentally differing from traditional face-to-face empathy. This necessitates an updated theoretical and research framework. Existing empathy scales developed for real-world human interactions may not accurately capture users' empathy toward virtual agents and objects in digital environments. This is primarily because the digital world presents greater complexity, where user participation is subject to unique challenges arising from interaction media, servicescapes, and user perceptions that differ markedly from physical world experiences.
Against this backdrop, our research investigates how marketer and consumer embodied participation in virtual reality (VR) service experiences influences digital empathy and well-being. The investigation unfolds across three studies.
Study 1 aims to establish the formative conditions and dimensional structure of marketer-consumer digital empathy in virtual spaces. We propose two foundational propositions: (1) users' physical participation and (2) cognitive engagement in virtual spaces serve as prerequisite conditions for digital empathy formation. Drawing from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (encompassing perspective-taking, fantasy, empathic concern, and personal distress), while adapting to digital contexts, we advance the necessity of developing a digital empathy scale with three core dimensions: digital perspective-taking, digital interpersonal fantasy, and digital empathic concern.
Study 2 seeks to uncover the mechanism through which marketer-consumer embodied participation influences digital empathy in virtual spaces. Building on Study 1's dimensional framework, we posit that: (1) For marketers, embodied participation in virtual environments enhances their ability to adopt consumers' perspectives, thereby improving digital perspective-taking; (2) For consumers, embodied engagement facilitates richer interpersonal fantasy toward interaction partners; (3) For both marketers and consumers, embodied participation spontaneously generates emotional resonance with interaction partners, fostering greater willingness to express care and engage in prosocial behaviors.
Study 3 aims to delineate the boundary conditions of the effects of marketer-consumer embodied participation on digital empathy and well-being through three key dimensions: interaction characteristics, user characteristics, and servicescape features.
Regarding interaction characteristics, we propose that in virtual reality (VR) environments, users can interact with either computer-generated virtual agents or avatars controlled by real users, representing two distinct interaction types (human-human vs. human-computer). Within virtual scenarios, users can either imagine themselves in the situation or envision others in the same context, forming two distinct perspectives (self vs. other) of embodied participation.
Concerning user characteristics, we posit that differences in age, demographics, and cognitive abilities may lead to variations in digital empathy. Additionally, the level of VR immersion interacts with users' self-construal. For instance, fully immersive systems, which reduce connection to the physical environment, may benefit independent users more than interdependent ones. We further propose that embodied participation in VR is influenced by user identity perception. When users encounter avatars with human-like features and social cues, they tend to interact with them based on social norms, extending empathy and trust. The acceptance process of virtual avatars involves anthropomorphization (categorizing them as human-like entities) and identification (attributing social attributes), through which users develop a sense of consistency, thereby facilitating digital empathy.
Finally, regarding servicescape characteristics, we argue that different service environments, atmospheres, and content may influence the relationship between embodied participation and digital empathy. For example, public service contexts are more likely to evoke user empathy compared to shopping services.
This research advances the marketing technology literature by 1) providing a theoretically grounded framework for understanding embodied commercial interactions in VR environments, 2) extending well-being research to digital service contexts, and 3) offering evidence-based guidelines for strategic implementation of VR technologies in service ecosystems.
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