When AI Strikes a Chord: How AI Agent and Human Agent Moderates Crisis Response in Competence-Based and Integrity-Based Crises

As AI has become increasingly pervasive in customer service due to its convenience and efficiency, it remains unclear whether publics hold similar expectations of AI agents and whether the recommended empathetic crisis responses elicit the desired reactions used by AI agents. To answer these questions, a 2 (Crisis type: Competence-based crisis vs. Integrity-based crisis) × 2 (Crisis response agent: AI vs. Human) × 2 (Empathetic crisis response: present vs. absent) experimental design was conducted. The results showed that due to the differences between human and AI, an empathetic crisis response is not an integral component in a competence-based crisis across human and AI agents. In an integrity-based crisis, an empathetic crisis response is an essential component of a human agent’s crisis communication, as it enhances perceived sincerity and improves overall organizational evaluations. However, incorporating the same empathetic response in an AI agent’s communication may backfire.