[Part 1] The dangers of too much empathy in market research with Rob Volpe

In this episode of Now that’s Significant, a Market Research Podcast, host Michael Howard, the head of marketing at Infotools was joined by Rob Volpe, CEO, Chief Catalyst, and Empathy Activist at Ignite360. Rob is the author of Tell me more about that: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time. 

[NOTE]: This episode was recorded on the 19th of April. In this episode, we talked about a Bud Light inclusivity campaign, featuring two social media influencers. At the time of the recording, Bud Light continued to support the campaign. However, the campaign was pulled just prior to the airing of this episode. This is another example of where a brand directs its empathy can have consequences in other places. And as the podcast talked about, you can be empathetic to one group, i.e. the LGBTQ community, and risk alienating others, and vice versa. We hope this podcast can give you as market researchers some food for thought when it comes to empathy for your customers and the communities in which you operate. We have subsequently recorded and released a follow up episode to discuss the cancellation of the campaign. Check out episode 60.

The dangers of too having much empathy in market research, and what that could result in from a business perspective. We briefly touched on what empathy - a human trait that's all about being able to see other people's perspectives, respecting them, and then be able to live in harmony. You may have a difference of opinion with them, but that’s okay. 

We discussed how it's expected of brands to be empathetic with customers. Previously, we had one-to-many approach, but often now we're expecting as consumers to be one-to-one. It's not always going to be perfect, we as consumers expect that, but we need to be listened to, feel we’re heard, and that that brand is able to deliver things for me as an individual. 

We talked about some of the ways that brands can be too empathetic and that in the main part losing sight of your business objective or alienating other parts of your audience. 

We also asked if the world is becoming more or less empathetic. Rob has seen some studies where the world is actually becoming more empathetic, which is encouraging. So hopefully that trend can continue. 

And then Rob shared the five steps to empathy from his book - Tell me more about that. It states dismantling judgment, asking good questions, actively listening integrating into understanding, and using solution imagination. 

Finally, we covered a few points on how brands can ensure they aren't being overly empathetic as well. 

If you want to find out more about Rob’s book, check out https://www.5stepstoempathy.com 

We hope you enjoy the show.