Empathy Is A Competitive Advantage. It Can Also Be Faked.

📰 Forbes Innovation

Empathy can be a competitive advantage, but authenticity may not be necessary as VR training can improve empathetic communication without changing feelings

intermediate Published 24 Apr 2026

Action Steps

Apply VR training to improve empathetic communication in customer-facing teams
Test the impact of empathy on customer satisfaction and loyalty
Configure training programs to focus on empathetic communication skills
Run experiments to measure the difference between genuine and fake empathy
Compare the effectiveness of different empathy-training methods

Who Needs to Know This

Managers, entrepreneurs, and marketers can benefit from understanding the role of empathy in business, and how to cultivate it in their teams and customer interactions

Key Insight

💡 Empathy can be improved through training, even if it's not genuine, which can have significant implications for business and customer interactions