Empathy, Ethics and Efficacy: The 3Es of Implementing Artificial Intelligence for Consumer Encounters

ABSTRACT Drawing insights from virtue ethics and psychological perspectives on empathy, we propose a framework for integrating empathy, ethics, and efficacy (3E) to guide the responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in consumer service encounters. It encourages developers, vendors, and users to improve efficiencies and productivity but, more importantly, to adopt an empathetic perspective with ethical decision‐making during AI development and deployment. By simultaneously adopting descriptive, analytical, and prescriptive approaches to engage academics, practitioners, and public policymakers, we outline a future research agenda for enriching AI‐consumer service encounters. Beyond conceptual integration, the framework offers practical insights for AI designers, businesses, and regulators by emphasising empathy as a bridge between efficacy and ethics. This perspective supports the development of AI technologies that not only enhance operational effectiveness but also foster consumer trust and well‐being, ensuring AI‐driven services remain human‐centred and ethically sound. A structured decision‐making model demonstrates how AI‐driven services can balance automation with ethical considerations and empathetic engagement, offering a pathway for more responsible AI implementation.