Research Proposal (The Ethical Challenge of Neuromarketing)

Research Proposal (The Ethical Challenge of Neuromarketing)
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Abstract
The development and advancement of neuroscience have led to the development of neuroscientific techniques which are applicable in the marketing science and eventually in the marketing research. In marketing, neuroscience is used in examining consumers’ reaction to particular marketing related stimuli. This research examines how different companies and organizations use of neuromarketing from an ethical view, the implications of the ethical related issues on the customers and also examines how companies may employ neuromarketing without crossing the ethical boundaries.
Keywords Neuromarketing research, neuroscience, ethical concerns, privacy
Introduction
Neuromarketing is a new field of marketing which applies medical technologies such as the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study and examine the brain’s responses to marketing stimuli. Researchers use the FMRI in measuring changes in activity from parts of the brain and to learn why buyers and customers may make decisions certain decisions and which part of the brain guides them when making their decisions. Market analysts use neuromarketing to better measure their consumers’ preference through use of verbal responses given to a set of predefined questions. This knowledge plays a major role in enabling the marketers to create and produce products and services that are more desirable to the customers and also aid in generating marketing campaigns that are more focused on the brain’s response.
Neuroscience, psychology, and economics are linking up and creating a consolidated disciplined called neuroeconomics. In this field, psychologists and economists are generating and implementing ideal tools which are aimed at understanding and comprehending ways of modeling behavior. The main purpose of this discipline is to unveil the processes which express the associations between perceptions and activities exploring and scrutinizing the neurobiological mechanisms through which resolutions are made (Glimcher & Rustichini, 2004). Neuromarketing falls within this field of neuroeconomics. The increases neurotechnologists and the increase of neuroimaging techniques have boosted the field of marketing and research. Past the traditional marketing research techniques, which are mainly based on verbal reports and self-analysis, neuromarketing focuses on understanding the processes which take place inside the human brain.
Some of the common measures which are used when examining consumer’s reactions to stimuli include psychophysiological verbal and behavioral measures (Wang & Minor, 2008). However, neuromarketing sometimes varies with these measures since it necessitates the implementations of specific neuroscientific approaches which help in examining and scrutinizing behavior in relation to the methods applied in marketing. It is also important to note that neuroscience enables marketing researchers to analyze and perceive unmanageable brain function responses which occur in certain physiological responses when a person is exposed to certain stimuli.
Some of the neuroscientific techniques which are applied in understanding the behaviors of the customers include Steady State Topography (SST), Galvanic Skin Response, Electroencephalography (EEG), Eye tracking and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) (Nasr, 2014). Many organizations have implemented neuromarketing with the goals of improving the efficiency of their marketing strategies. Some of the organizations that are using neuromarketing include Yahoo, Microsoft Corporation and eBay among others.
Ethical issues are regarded as some of the major aspects that are associated with neuromarketing among marketing professionals and the neurologists. One of the major issues related to neuromarketing ethics is the worry that neuromarketing allows unmatched levels of manipulation by the organizations that employ this marketing approach. This concern is based on the views that consumers and customers may be unlawfully affected by the used of certain stimuli which result in particular physiological responses that may only be detected by using neuromarketing based research.
Purpose of the Study
The application of neuroscience in marketing has generated several ethical concerns for different parties such as customers and practitioners. It is also important to note that the implications of these concerns constitute and present probable concerns for both profit-making and non-profit making organizations. The ethical issues may vary based on the ethical awareness and impressions of the consumers and customers regarding why an organization adopts neuromarketing marketing practices. Understanding what may be ethical and unethical in neuromarketing may play a major role in influencing the future of this marketing practice.
The goal of this study is to examine the ethical problems with the neuromarketing approach. Organizations, companies, businesses and marketing industry, in general, is at a decisive point of evolution due to the impact of neuroscience on all forms of knowledge, including business. With technology, marketers can subliminally control human behavior. Marketing professionals can use these techniques to sway potential consumers, creating an ethical dilemma.
The research questions addressed in this study are
1. How can businesses market their product using neuroscience without crossing ethical boundaries?
2. Should neuromarketing be legal?
Literature Review
Neuromarketing
The idea of scanning the brains of a human being with intentions of exploring and scrutinizing how brain parts respond to particular stimuli is a not a newly developed thing. The application of imaging technology specifically in the neuroscience started several years ago. It is, however, important to note that these approaches were mainly applied for medical reasons. The integration and combination of neuropsychological approached and the marketing processes began in the early twenty-first century when both neuroscience and economic aspects were merged to establish neuroeconomics (Garcia & Saad, 2008).
A group of scientists in 2013, fascinated by the challenge of two companies Pepsi and Coke in the 1970s developed interests to carry out a homogenous study but applying a different research approach. The researcher had been baffled by the case of these two companies where, while blind tested, the participators favored the taste of Pepsi but they still bought Coke. Thus the aim of these scientists was to examine the reasons why bought products that were not certain what they liked because of taste (McClure et al., 2004). To evaluate this issue the scientists used an experimental environment to examine brain responses. To facilitate this the researchers used Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to evaluate the activities of the brain as the contributors were put in two distinct conditions: In one condition the participators were aware of the brand of soda they took while in the other condition participants were not aware of the brand. The outcomes of this study showed that when participants were not aware of the brand they consumed they preferred Pepsi but once they became aware of three-quarters preferred Coke (McClure et al., 2004). Even if the outcomes of the study were similar to the results of the original challenge, the interesting thing is that the new study enabled the researchers to examine the activities of the brain as participants participated in the research.
Ethical Issues in Neuromarketing
The research conducted by McClure et al. (2004) played a major role in making neuromarketing an exciting area of research while at the same time escalating remarkable concerns regarding among other issues the ethical effects of using such technology for research purposes. Other researchers accepted this new field while other practitioners criticized this new phenomenon. Other organizations and individuals regarded neuromarketing as unethical and they even requested for its investigations (Sutherland, 2004). Most specifically the major ethical problems associated with neuromarketing are the likelihood of mind control and matters related to invasion of privacy.
Concerning the problem of invasion of privacy, those who criticized neuromarketing based their claims in the fruitfulness of subliminal advertising. Different researchers and scientists were worried whether the results of subliminal advertising could affect the subconscious mind of the customers and eventually altering their purchase decisions (Flores, Baruca & Saldivar, 2014). The major problem, in this case, was that when a subliminal message was communicated it could affect an individual’s behavior without the individual understanding the influence of the message. Influencing an individual’s behaviors with their consent may be ethical but doing that secretly and without their understanding is without doubt unethical.
There is also another main concern given by the critics of neuromarketing. Scanning the brains of the consumers may enable an organization to discover an effectual and fruitful communication mechanism, and this may attempt the organization to manipulate the brains of the customers, therefore, being able to control and influence their behavior. Such an act may be considered immoral and there is, therefore, need to ensure that such research is conducted in line with the strict code ...