Social Cognitive Skills in Electric Vehicle Sales: Understanding Empathy, Trust, and Decision-Making in Sustainable Mobility Markets

The transition to electric mobility requires salespeople to go beyond technical expertise and develop advanced social-cognitive skills that shape consumer decision-making. This study examines how empathy, perspective-taking, and trust influence interactions between salespeople and potential buyers of electric vehicles (EVs). Through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, we identify the key cognitive and emotional competencies that enable sales professionals to interpret customer intentions, manage uncertainty, and guide rational yet emotionally influenced purchase decisions. Findings suggest that successful EV sales rely on understanding consumer beliefs about sustainability, risk, and technology, as well as on the salesperson's ability to align messages with these cognitive frames. Based on this analysis, we propose a competency development framework that emphasizes empathy-driven communication, adaptive reasoning, and the integration of social cognition into training strategies. This perspective contributes to the broader understanding of how social-cognitive processes affect human judgment and decision-making in the emerging electric vehicle market.