Data-driven culture analytics capability and road transport service quality: The differing impacts of employee cognitive and emotional empathy

Data analytics is becoming an essential tool for improving service delivery in public transport systems. However, the role of employees' cognitive and emotional empathy in translating data insights has not been adequately examined. This study investigates the relationship between Data-Driven Culture Analytics Capability (DDCC) and road transport service quality, considering the mediating role of cognitive empathy and the moderating effect of emotional empathy. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 523 employees working in Ghana's public road transport sector, including bus drivers, conductors, ticketing officers, and customer service representatives. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the proposed relationships. The results reveal that DDCC significantly predicts both cognitive empathy and service quality. Additionally, cognitive empathy partially mediates the relationship between DDCC and service quality. Furthermore, emotional empathy moderates the relationships between (a) DDCC and service quality and (b) cognitive empathy and service quality. This study provides new insights into how human-centered capabilities, specifically cognitive and emotional empathy interact with data-driven strategies to enhance service outcomes.