Do Google Reviews matter for doctors? Unpacking online emotional accountability on a digital platform

The emergence of publicly available online feedback has prompted inquiries into the evolving context of professional evaluation, especially in the healthcare sector. Drawing on Illouz’s critical theory of emotional capitalism, this article unravels whether and how patients’ Google feedback changes the way doctors are held accountable. We draw on a qualitative analysis of Google’s patient feedback that is combined, when available, with doctors’ responses, coupled with 13 interviews with medical professionals and members of their administrative staff. Our contributions lie in conceptualising this Google online feedback as a form of ‘online emotional accountability’, a crucial characterisation that extends the current understanding of the phenomenon of online feedback for professionals. It sheds new light on a pivotal shift in which informal discussions about doctors’ behaviour and patients’ emotional satisfaction are made publicly available, placing professionals—especially doctors—under public scrutiny not only for their expertise but also for their role in managing the diverse emotional needs and expectations of their patients. Our findings uncover four critical implications of this online emotional accountability from a doctors’ perspective: (1) the feigned indifference; (2) the critiques of the commodification of medical work; (3) the potential competing goals between achieving patient emotional satisfaction and respecting professional ethics; and (4) the challenges of addressing patients’ feedback under public scrutiny.