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TRUVACE RECORD VERSION
record: TRV-2026-2643
version: 1
kind: certified
reason: Certified into the record
timestamp: 2026-11-12T16:56:01.737713Z
status: published
lens: g_space
sector: business
headline: When emotions matter: the contextual effectiveness of emotional expressions in AI agents
dek: Purpose This paper aims to examine how artificial intelligence (AI) agents’ emotional expressions (positive or neutral) interact with service task types (subjective or objective) to shape consumer service satisfaction, and explore the mediating roles of mind perception, including perceived agency and perceived experience, in this process. Design/methodology/approach This work uses four studies, including a secondary data analysis of relevant Weibo posts and three scenario experiments involving a total of 587 par…
gain_title: In four studies including three scenario experiments with 587 participants, positive emotional expressions from AI service agents produced higher satisfaction on subjective tasks, while neutral expressions did so on objective tasks.
problem_title: (none)
trace_subject: (none)
gain_reading: In four studies including three scenario experiments with 587 participants, positive emotional expressions from AI service agents produced higher satisfaction on subjective tasks, while neutral expressions did so on objective tasks.
gain_evidence: positive emotional expressions are more effective for subjective tasks, whereas neutral emotional expressions are more effective for objective tasks
problem_reading: (none)
problem_evidence: (none)
quick_read: A study in the European Journal of Marketing found that whether an AI service agent should sound emotional depends on the job it is doing. Three scenario experiments with 587 participants in total showed positive emotional expressions worked better for subjective tasks, and neutral expressions worked better for objective tasks.

The researchers also analysed Weibo posts, which documented consumers responding differently to AI emotional expressions in subjective and objective service contexts. The authors say the results suggest firms should design AI service agents as social actors rather than purely functional tools.

The work covers only commercial service text and uses satisfaction as the single outcome, so effects on repurchase intentions or word-of-mouth remain untested.
limitation: The study covers only AI communication in commercial service texts, not domains such as education and health care or the nonverbal expressions of embodied AI, and it measures only service satisfaction rather than repurchase intentions or word-of-mouth.
tag: Evidence-backed gain
key_points: The research combined a secondary analysis of Weibo posts with three scenario experiments involving 587 participants in total. | Positive emotional expressions raised satisfaction more in subjective, experiential service tasks. | Neutral emotional expressions raised satisfaction more in objective, data-driven service tasks. | Positive emotion worked by increasing perceived experience, meaning how much feeling the AI seemed capable of, in subjective tasks. | Neutral emotion worked by strengthening perceived agency, meaning how capable the AI seemed of acting, in objective tasks. | The authors advise managers to match emotional design to the type of service task.
rundown: The study tested how an AI agent's emotional expression, positive or neutral, interacts with the type of service task, subjective or objective, to shape consumer satisfaction. It began with Weibo posts, where consumers reacted differently to AI emotion depending on the service context, then moved to three scenario experiments.

The experiments showed a clear split. Positive emotion helped on subjective tasks and neutral emotion helped on objective tasks. Mediation analyses traced these effects to two separate routes: perceived experience for positive emotion and perceived agency for neutral emotion.

The authors conclude that firms can use emotional expressions to shape how consumers judge AI, but the design should align with the task. They describe the study as strong in internal validity but limited in external validity.
sources:
- peer_reviewed | European Journal of Marketing | https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm-07-2025-0569 | 2026-10-14
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