Ethics & Neuromarketing: Is the Application of Brain Research in Marketing Ethically Justifiable?

Neuromarketing research is the application of biometric methods such as Eye Tracking, brain research (EEG), and Facial Coding to marketing issues. Unlike traditional market research, which uses conscious methods like interviews and questionnaires, neuromarketing focuses on physiological responses, which are partly unconscious.

This often raises the question: is it ethical to measure the unconscious reaction to marketing? Terms like ‘the buy button’ imply that it would reduce consumers to zombies blindly following the marketer's wishes.

The reality is much more nuanced.

 

Neuromarketing does not change the autonomy of the consumer. Nor is neuromarketing a method that pushes us into an unethical abyss. At least not if traditional market research is considered acceptable.

In this blog, we dissect the issue of neuromarketing and ethics. 

If Marketing is Ethical, Then So is Neuromarketing

The superficial argument against neuromarketing is that it is used to unconsciously influence human behaviour. And that is true. However, traditional marketing already attempted this.

A packaging designer trying to stand out from competitors, a retailer trying to arrange a shelf as clearly as possible and an advertiser trying to weave the most attractive story around the brand. In all three cases, their success depends on the extent to which they unconsciously appeal to us as consumers. The difference lies only in whether they do this based on intuition (which, with some talent, gets you quite far) or based on science (which greatly increases your chances of success).

In short: neuromarketing does nothing different from what marketers have been trying for decades. It just does it better.

Yet some critics counter this argument by claiming that neuromarketing is unethical because it measures a response that the respondent does not consciously choose to share. However, this was already the case in traditional market research.

Suppose a researcher uses in-depth interviews to gain insight into the underlying motivation for why someone uses a product. This researcher does not only use the explicit answer but is looking for the underlying motivations that are unconsciously hidden in the themes and word choices the respondent presents. It is indeed a traditional method, but it is just as much about deciphering the unconscious code as modern neuromarketing. The latter just succeeds much better in it.

The objective of neuromarketing and neuromarketing research cannot be called unethical. At least, not when you consider marketing in its broad sense acceptable.

Can a Method Be Unethical?

You sometimes hear “there are no unethical research methods, only unethical issues.” That in itself does not make neuromarketing unethical. But because neuromarketing has made a significant step forward in predicting and influencing behaviour, it is important to consider the potential negative consequences.

The assertion that every measurement method is ethically responsible, as long as the product it serves is okay, is also a somewhat too easy conclusion. Some research methods are inherently unsuitable for marketing, for example, those that are invasive and require surgery to directly measure of the brain. Extremely valuable for medical applications, but for market research, this is, to put it mildly, “a bit much.”

It can be considered unethical when respondents are unnecessarily subjected to a method they find unpleasant. This is not an issue for neuromarketing in its most common forms. On the contrary: respondents enjoy a typical Eye Tracking or EEG study much more than when they have to slog through a survey for 40 minutes.

Every Assignment an Ethical Compass

Neuromarketing, like marketing as a whole, cannot be definitively labelled as ethical or unethical. This should be assessed per individual assignment.

Neuromarketing works. This means that as a result of a neuromarketing study, more people will consume more of the brand or product in question. As a research agency, you must ask per project whether that is desirable. Do you want to work for a cigarette brand? Probably not. But then for a soft drink brand? These questions do not have clear-cut answers. Not only is the brand a determining factor in the direction in which the moral compass points, but also the specific objective for the project at hand. Unravel discusses with the research team whether we can fully support challenging projects.

Does the Consumer Benefit from Neuromarketing?

Finally, it is also interesting to consider the argument that neuromarketing can enrich consumers' lives. This applies not only to neuromarketing but to all innovations that make marketing better and more relevant, such as good UX, individual targeting, and continuous optimisation with A/B testing.

These success-enhancing innovations reduce the number of unwanted product introductions, as they are already cancelled or optimised in advance (for example, with neuro product and packaging research). They make communication more relevant by focusing messages on content that truly appeals to the brain (for example, with neuro advertising research). And they make life easier by making the user interaction with websites and apps more brain-friendly (for example, with neuro usability research).