With their study “Flip the tweet - two-sided coin of entrepreneurial empathy and its ambiguous influence on new product development”, the team from the Chair of Economics at TU Darmstadt attracted attention not only in academic circles. Konstantin Kurz, emergenCITY-PI Carolin Bock and Leonard Hanschur investigated empathy as a factor in entrepreneurship, and they were able to make astonishing discoveries in their analysis of thousands of tweets: Contrary to previous assumptions in research, entrepreneurial empathy does not only have positive effects. A particularly high level of empathy can trigger cognitive distortions and hold back product launches in the founding phase of start-ups.

These results trended in the public German media: mdr Wissen published an article, as did the Darmstädter Echo (paywall) and the Wetzlarer Neue Zeitung (paywall). The magazine for brand management markenartikel and the baublatt reported in marketing and industry circles. A detailed interview with emergenCITY-PI Carolin Bock appeared also in the Darmstädter Echo and can be read here exclusively without paywall. A more detailed report on the study is also available on our website and the publication in the Jouranl of Business Venturing itself online.