Wise sage or goofy performer: The double-edged sword effect of chatbots using Chinese Xiehouyu on prosocial consumer behavior

In AI-driven cause-related marketing, Chinese Xiehouyu used by chatbots function as high-context cultural cues that require interpretation rather than direct semantic acceptance, thereby shaping how consumers construe the AI agent as a communication source. Drawing on high-context culture theory and the empathy–altruism framework, this research proposes that Chinese Xiehouyu shift consumers' processing focus from message content to source interpretation, prompting judgments about the agent's contextual understanding, role legitimacy, and communicative intent. Through this interpretive process, Chinese Xiehouyu can conditionally activate cognitive empathy via perspective-taking and affective empathy via emotional resonance, which subsequently influence prosocial consumption decisions. Across four experiments with 876 participants, the results show that a Chinese Xiehouyu language style increases prosocial consumer behavior through both empathy pathways. However, this effect operates as a double-edged sword. When linguistic cues and interface signals jointly support a coherent interpretation of the AI agent as a contextually competent social actor, Chinese Xiehouyu are more likely to be perceived as appropriate and sincere; when such coherence is absent, the same expressions are interpreted as performative or misplaced. Human avatars strengthen the interpretive credibility of Chinese Xiehouyu and amplify their indirect effects, whereas robot avatars weaken this alignment. Similarly, emoji use disrupts contextual coherence and suppresses the indirect effects of high-context expressions, while plain text preserves interpretive integrity. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the prosocial effects of Chinese Xiehouyu-based AI language depend on contextual coherence between cultural cues and interface signals rather than inherent persuasive strength, offering guidance for designing culturally attuned AI agents that foster empathy and promote prosocial consumption.