Neuromarketing and Consumer Free Will

R. MARK WILSON, JEANNIE GAINES, AND RONALD PAUL HILL
Neuromarketing and Consumer Free Will
This article examines the impact of discoveries and methods of neuroscience
on marketing practices as they relate to the exercise of individual
free will. Thus, our focus centers on ethical questions involving
consumers’ awareness, consent, and understanding to what may be
viewed as invasion of their privacy rights. After a brief introduction,
the article turns to scientific literature on the brain, followed by discussion
of marketing persuasion models. Ethical dilemmas within the free
will paradigm and Rawlsian justice developed in moral philosophy are
delineated next. The article closes with policy implications and a revised
consideration of consumer privacy.
Marketers seek to influence the intricate processes of evaluation and
selection by consumers, sometimes reverting to tactics and technologies
that redirect decision makers without their explicit permission. Examples
include product placements in videogames, movies, and television programs
(see LeGresley, Muggli, and Hurt 2006). Others make use of interpersonal
influences in the marketplace (McGrath and Otnes 1995;
Pechmann et al. 2005). For example, marketing professionals may pay
females to order specific liquors in bars or have neighbors praise particular
brands of condiments or sneakers at parties (Heilbrunn 2005).
Relevant issues for our discussion are whether and to what extent marketers
are willing to engage in activities that lack transparency. Few academic
studies have tackled this difficult subject, providing only anecdotal
evidence that the practice is more widespread than one might suspect. To
address this deficit, Zinkhan, Bisessi, and Saxton (1989) asked a sample of
MBA students about their willingness to deceive in a number of marketing
contexts and found a broad readiness to do so in order to ensure cooperation
by consumers. While the generalizability of their findings is limited, such
behaviors suggest that some marketers seek to limit our understanding of
their true intentions (Jeurissen and van de Ven 2006).
R. Mark Wilson is dean of the College of Business Administration at Niagara University, Niagara,
NY (mwilson@niagara.edu). Jeannie Gaines is an associate professor of management at the University
of South Florida St Petersburg, St Petersburg, FL (drjeanniegaines@yahoo.com). Ronald Paul Hill is
the Robert J. and Barbara Naclerio Chairholder in Business and senior associate dean of Intellectual
Strategy at the Villanova School of Business, Philadelphia, PA (ronald.hill@villanova.edu).
The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 42, No. 3, 2008
ISSN 0022-0078
Copyright 2008 by The American Council on Consumer Interests
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 389
For better or for worse, opportunities to influence consumers without
their full awareness may increase significantly as a result of research on
brain activity. Almost twenty years ago, consumer scholars recommended
using brain wave measures to study the impact of promotions on buyer
behavior (see Young 2002). This perspective was controversial, especially
given limitations and difficulties interpreting data from electroencephalograms
(Stewart 1984, 1985). However, over this period, the disciplines of
neuroscience and cognitive psychology advanced and joined forces to provide
an entirely new paradigm for understanding ways consumers develop,
store, retrieve, and use information (Gordon 2002). Neuroscience methodologies,
especially noninvasive neuroimaging technology, now enable
researchers to probe brain activity at the basic neural level of functioning
(Shiv et al. 2005).
The use of data obtained from brain imaging poses ethical dilemmas for
marketers. Potential moral issues emerging from neuroscience applications
include awareness, consent, and understanding of individual consumers.
The next section explores scientific literature on the brain, followed by a discussion
of neuromarketing within models of marketing persuasion. The
article then describes ethical dilemmas involving the free will paradigm
argued historically in moral philosophy along with Rawlsian justice. Anticipating
our results, we find that the new technology may spawn difficult
ethical situations, and we offer policy implications for the future, with
the intent of incorporating advantages of neuroscience within the boundaries
of ethical marketing.
NEUROMARKETING AND NEUROIMAGING
The term ‘‘neuromarketing’’ (NM) is a recently invented moniker. The
Economist (2004) credits Jerry Zaltman with initially proposing a union of
brain-imaging technology with marketing in the late 1990s, and when the
Atlanta marketing firm, BrightHouse, opened a neuromarketing division in
2001, the synthesis of neuroscience and marketing began to attract attention
in science, business, and journalism. Neuromarketing has been described as
‘‘applying the methods of the neurology lab to the questions of the advertising
world’’ (Thompson 2003, 53). Recently, the International Journal of
Psychophysiology called neuromarketing ‘‘the application of neuroscientific
methods to analyze and understand human behavior in relation to markets
and marketing exchanges’’ (Lee, Broderick, and Chamberlain 2007,
200). Indeed, improvements in neuroimaging technologies have and will
continue to advance our knowledge of how people make decisions and
how marketers can influence those decisions.
390 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
The use of one noninvasive neuroimaging technology, functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI), has experienced especially rapid growth.
fMRI enables researchers to isolate systems of neurons associated with
functions of the brain. For example, when a person looks at a print advertisement,
light activates some of the 125 million visual neural receptors,
rods and cones, in each eye. Nerve signals travel to the midbrain, which
focuses the pupils and coordinates eye movement over the advertisement.
Other signals from the rods and cones pass through the optic nerve fibers,
some of which cross-over to the other side of the brain so that the left half of
the advertisement is perceived in the right hemisphere of the brain and the
right half in the left hemisphere (Carey 2005; Dubuc 2007).
The information is processed for shape, color, and spatial location as the
signals pass through the lateral geniculate nuclei on their way to assembly
in the visual cortices located at the back of the brain. Memories triggered by
an advertisement are stored throughout the cerebral cortex and recalled
through the hippocampus located deep in each brain hemisphere; the stored
emotional memories and valences are processed by the amygdala, another
nerve bundle located near the base of each hemisphere (Carey 2005
Dalgleish 2004; Davidson 2003; Dubuc 2007; Kandel, Schwartz, and
Jessell 2000). Using fMRI, researchers are able to image the neural activity
associated with vision as well as with the cognitive and affective responses
to print advertisements.
Isolating neural systems formed by the one hundred billion neurons in
the human brain is a complex task. fMRI is able to locate active systems by
comparing images taken of a brain performing a specific function to those
of the brain when not performing that function. In an active neural system,
signals travel from one neuron to another by transmitting chemical compounds,
called neurotransmitters, across synapses to receptors on the
receiving cell. Neurotransmitters attaching to the receptors can either facilitate
or inhibit a process that will result in the firing of electrical impulses
that stimulates release of neurotransmitters into synapses to the receptors of
the next cell (Carey 2005; Kandel, Schwartz, and Jessell 2000). Synaptic
activity of the activated network of neurons causes blood to flow to the
region (Logothetis 2003; Raichle and Mintun 2006). The additional blood
brings more oxygen and hydrogen to the area than is needed to replenish the
system of neurons, which increases the magnetic field during a scan by
a small but detectable amount (Gore 2003; Matthews and Jezzard 2004).
Improvements in hardware and software technologies continue to
increase the spatial and temporal resolutions of the images, that is, the clarity
of each image and the accuracy of tracking changes in brain activity over
time based on these small changes in magnetic field. Current magnetic
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 391
resonance imaging machines generate a 1.5-T strong magnetic force
(30,000 times the force of gravity). The protons in the nuclei of hydrogen
atoms in the brain, primarily located in the blood, align their axes with this
strong magnetic force. A radio wave pulse of appropriate frequency is
applied at an angle to the aligned axes causing the oscillating protons to
absorb energy and tip their axes away from alignment with the strong force.
When the pulse ends, the particles release the absorbed energy as they
return to alignment with the magnetic force. This released energy is the
measured magnetic resonance signal. The information in these signals is
then converted via computer software into an image of a slice of the brain.
The resulting image is different from a photograph or an X-ray; it is a representation
of contrasts among different tissues based on the density of the
hydrogen protons and the nature of the tissue containing the protons (Detre
and Wang 2002; Gore 2003; Heuttel, Song, and McCarthy 2004; Kandel,
Schwartz, and Jessell 2000; Patz 2007).
During an fMRI experiment, researchers scan the individual’s brain while
it is not performing the function of interest, referred to as a resting brain
(Raichle and Mintun 2006). Then, they perform an experiment designed
to activate specific brain functions of interest while researchers quickly scan,
often repeatedly, to capture changes in the signal during activity. Researchers
adjust data for a myriad of factors, including the time delay between the
neuronal activity and the arrival of the blood supply to the area, head movements,
heartbeats, and breathing. Like a fingerprint, each brain is unique, so
in studies involving more than one person, researchers ‘‘warp’’ each participant’s
brain images onto a template so that brain locations can be compared
across individuals. A software program tests whether specific localities in
the brain are activated during the experiment. The program colors the image
of a resting brain in the locations of significant increases in blood flow,
highlighting relevant networks of neurons (Brown and Semelka 1999; Gore
2003; Heuttel and McCarthy 2000; Heuttel, Song, and McCarthy 2004).
Neuroimaging and Persuasion
Researchers have applied fMRI techniques and technology to investigate
the nature of decision making and persuasion. For example, Knutson et al.
(2005) found the neural activity associated with calculation of expected
value. They measured the brain activities of participants who were provided
an informational cue about the probability and magnitude of gain or loss at
the beginning of an experiment. The task was to push a button within a time
limit that varied with the probability of receiving the reward. After learning
the cues and the rules of this reward system, subjects entered the MRI
392 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
machine and performed 288 trials. The authors found that activation of the
subcortical nucleus accumbens in the forebrain is related to magnitude of
payoff but not probability of gain, while activation of the mesial prefrontal
cortex is correlated with magnitude and probability of gain. These findings
demonstrate that such evaluations involve both affective and cognitive neural
systems.
The neuroscience literature on expected value is expanding (Breiter et al.
2001; Elliot et al. 2003), as is the larger neuroscience literature on decision
making (Braeutigam2005; Glimcher 2003;Knutson et al. 2007; Sanfey et al.
2006; Shiv et al. 2005; Zak 2004). Camerer, Lowenstein, and Prelec (2005)
describe the roles of affective and cognitive processes, acting either together
or separately, during decision making. The mind tags almost every concept
and object with a valence that is automatically brought to mind when provoked
by an appropriate symbol. Even if consumers are made aware of the
affective response, it is very difficult for them to override the affective influence
with cognitive reasoning. The authors speculate that cognitive processes
may not be able to finalize a decision without a ‘‘go/no go’’
message froman affective function of the brain. Conclusions of these studies
about the importance of affect in decision making parallel those of psychology
and marketing (Johar, Maheswaran, and Peracchio 2006; Zajonc 1998).
Three recent articles (Braeutigam 2005; Fugate 2007; Lee, Broderick,
and Chamberlain 2007) and a review of the neuroscience/marketing literature
suggest that synergy between these two disciplines produced new
insights into the impact of affect or emotion on the memory of visual stimuli
(Ambler and Burne 1999; Ambler, Ioannides, and Rose 2000; Erk, Martin,
and Walter 2005; Erk et al. 2003); antecedents of trust behavior (Ioannides
et al. 2000; Fehr, Fischbacher, and Kosfeld 2005; Kosfeld et al. 2005;
Zak et al. 2005); factors influencing brand selection and brand equity
(Ambler et al. 2004; Braeutigam et al. 2001, 2004; du Plessis 2005;
Plassmann et al. 2007); viewing time for images to enter memory (Rossiter
et al. 2001; Silberstein et al. 2000); reward centers in the brain (Berns et al.
2001; Erk et al. 2002; Senior 2003); differences between evaluation of personalities
and products (Yoon et al. 2006); and ‘‘branding moments’’ in
advertisements (Young 2002). A highly publicized Coke/Pepsi fMRI study
by researchers at Emory University found a significant effect of brand knowledge
on brain response and expressed preference (McClure et al. 2004).
In addition to scholarly research, a number of university neuroscience
programs, including those at Emory, Cal Tech, and UCLA are teaming up
with private consulting firms to do applied research for large organizations
such as Viacom, Kimberly-Clark, and Daimler-Chrysler (Tiltman 2005).
More than 90 private neuromarketing consulting firms currently operate
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 393
in the United States as well as in an increasing number of other countries
(Reid 2006). The media has sensationalized many of these investigations,
alleging that marketers found the ‘‘buy button in your brain’’ (Dias 2006)
and that the population is about to be ‘‘brain scammed’’ (Brain Scam?
2004). As a result, use of neuroscience in marketing has both advocates
and critics. Advocates (Erk, Martin, and Walter 2005; Singer 2004;
Thompson 2005) propose that the combination will allow consumers
and marketers to better understand what products are desired—a win/
win for both parties. Critics (Herman 2005; Huang 1998; Lovel 2003;
Thompson 2003) warn that consumers’ ability to make logical, informed
decisions about purchases will be compromised. Whether an advocate or
a critic, many believe that neuroimaging methods will bring significant
changes to marketing persuasion. Just as forty years ago when a single
computer filled an entire room and its users hoped the reader would
not chew up the punch cards, today’s MRI machines are large, expensive,
and noisy, but it is easy to envision them, and other neuroimaging technologies
developing rapidly into powerful, portable machines.
Similarly, at this point in time, conclusions drawn from the correlations
between brain functions and blood flow should be viewed with caution.
Their interpretation requires connecting a cognitive or affective response
to neural activity, and then neural activity to a significant blood response to
a region of the brain. Although neuroscientists have made significant
advances in connecting neural activity to blood response, much remains
to be learned about the relationship between a task-related thought or emotion
and neuronal activity (Heuttel, Song and McCarthy 2004, Raichle and
Mintun 2006). Nevertheless, it seems likely the new technologies will
enable neuroscience and marketing researchers to better understand the role
of emotions in decision making, to develop more effective methods of triggering
those emotions, to build greater trust and brand loyalty, to measure
intensity of an individual’s likes and dislikes, and, in general, to be more
persuasive marketers. The models of marketing persuasion in the next section
provide a framework for thinking about the changes that advanced neuroimaging
technologies may bring.
CONSUMER PERSUASION MODELS
Traditional Consumer Persuasion Model
The Traditional Consumer Persuasion Model (Figure 1) exemplifies the
way marketers have typically created more effective promotions. During
the screening phase, a group of relevant individuals is presented with a
394 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
marketing stimulus, and feedback on its effectiveness is collected so that
a general persuasion attempt can be refined. Intervention occurs when
potential consumers are targeted with the resulting promotion, their cognitive
and affective processes are activated, and attitudes and behavioral
intentions are formed. The outcome phase is when a purchase occurs
(or does not occur) and includes the ensuing consequences to both the individual
and the larger society that can be described as positive or negative.
For example, the consumer may experience satisfaction, or even delight,
with the purchase or may regret the purchase and the possible financial
burden. Potential societal impacts include a boost to the overall economy
or a drain if the consumer cannot pay for the item in a timely fashion. If
a purchase is not made, the individual may experience regret or relief and
the economy is perhaps impacted negatively in a marginal way. This model
is generally accepted as an appropriate method to pursue customers and
increase sales. The screening group is aware and has consented to providing
feedback on various marketing stimuli. Additionally, most consumers and
societal members accept this process as standard practice that does not seek
to invade the private thinking and feeling of targeted consumers.
Revealed Preferences Consumer Persuasion Model
A more invasive strategy currently used by many retailers provides a second
model of persuasion development based on consumer data collected at
the individual level (Figure 2). For example, Tesco, Britain’s largest
retailer and private employer, uses a loyalty card program to record the
purchasing behavior in Tesco stores of approximately 12 million UK customers
and many more worldwide through Internet sales. Consumers willingly
disclose personal information required for the Clubcard because
FIGURE 1
Traditional Consumer Persuasion Model
PERSUASION
ATTEMPT
WITH TEST GROUP
REACTION OF
TEST GROUP
SURVEYS
INTERVIEWS
SCREENING PHASE
REFINED
PERSUASION
ATTEMPT
COGNITIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
AFFECTIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
ATTITUDES
TOWARD
PROMOTION
& PRODUCT
PURCHASE BEHAVIOR
INTERVENTION PHASE
BEHAVIORAL
INTENTIONS
TO BUY
INDIVIDUAL
CONSEQUENCES
SOCIETAL
CONSEQUENCES
OUTCOMES
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 395
‘‘points’’ based on the cardholder’s total purchases can be redeemed for
discounts on future purchases or for air miles in frequent-flier programs.
Dunnhumby, a marketing research firm owned primarily by Tesco, analyzes
customer data by correlating characteristics of products that an individual
buys with those of other people with similar, but not identical,
purchases and shopping habits. Tesco marketers are then able to design
promotions that cater to specific clusters of individuals such as targeted
e-mails and quarterly mailings. These communications include coupons
for items the individual typically buys as well as for items she/he is likely
to buy based on data analyses.
Tesco and others have been remarkably successful using customer information
to increase their own sales and by selling information about purchasing
behavior from the dataset to other retailers (Humby, Hunt, and
Phillips 2007; Rigby 2006; Rohwedder 2006). In the Revealed Preferences
Consumer Persuasion Model, the screening phase consists of signing customers
up for the Clubcard as well as collecting and analyzing data on each
purchase. In the intervention phase, the refined persuasion attempt is
crafted through specific e-mails, coupons based on consumer preferences,
and in the future via grocery carts with small LCD screens containing
advertisements targeted to the individual shopper. Cognitive and affective
responses, attitude formation and behavioral intentions, and purchase decisions
unfold consistent with outcomes of the former model.
Information about purchasing decisions is fed back to marketers to refine
succeeding persuasion attempts. As with the Traditional Model, engaged
individuals are aware and consent to what might be deemed under other
circumstances as an invasion of their privacy, at least during the screening
phase. However, it is doubtful that the majority understands the extent
of the statistical manipulations of their personal data that inform the
FIGURE 2
Revealed Preferences Consumer Persuasion Model
LOYALTY CARD
SIGN-UP FOR
CLUBCARD
DATA
COLLECTION
RE PURCHASES
SCREENING PHASE
COGNITIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
AFFECTIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
ATTITUDES
TOWARD
PROMOTION
& PRODUCT
PURCHASE BEHAVIOR
INTERVENTION PHASE
BEHAVIORAL
INTENTIONS
TO BUY
INDIVIDUAL
CONSEQUENCES
SOCIETAL
CONSEQUENCES
OUTCOMES
REFINED
PERSUASION
ATTEMPT
TO INDIVIDUAL
CUSTOMERS
COUPON
EMAILS
396 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
intervention phase, even though it is recounted in a recent book titled
Scoring Points (Humby, Hunt, and Phillips 2007). The major difference
between the Revealed Preferences Model and the Traditional Model is that
customer preference data are collected and used to target the individual as
well as others ‘‘like’’ him or her. The feedback obtained through purchases
is also much more specific and accurate. Tesco’s stated marketing goal is to
give people what they want, and they have been creative in the use of data to
determine preferences.
Collective Neuromarketing Persuasion Model
The Collective Neuromarketing Persuasion Model (Figure 3) differs
from the first two models only in the screening phase. As opposed to study
groups or loyalty cards, this model introduces neuroimaging techniques
into the consumer behavior paradigm. Here, a subset of consumers agrees
to neuroimaging measurement while observing various marketing stimuli.
The new measurement methods record important nonconscious affective
influences, and the results are then used to design future persuasion
attempts.
During the intervention phase, the refined persuasion attempt is based on
brain scan data of the test group and is presented to future potential buyers
in relevant settings. The stimulus is processed by consumers, through cognitive
and affective mechanisms, to form an attitude toward the brand or
product. If neuromarketers are successful triggering affective areas of the
brain associated with rewards or pleasure, the consumer develops a positive
attitude toward the product, forms a behavioral intention to buy, and ultimately
purchases the item in question (outcome phase). The purchase
behavior forms a feedback loop to the screening phase where persuasion
FIGURE 3
Collective Neuromarketing Consumer Persuasion Model
PERSUASION
ATTEMPT
WITH TEST GROUP
NEUROIMAGING
OF TEST
GROUPS’
COGNITIVE &
AFFECTIVE
PROCESSES
SCREENING PHASE
COGNITIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
AFFECTIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
ATTITUDES
TOWARD
PROMOTION
& PRODUCT
PURCHASE BEHAVIOR
INTERVENTION PHASE
BEHAVIORAL
INTENTIONS
TO BUY
INDIVIDUAL
CONSEQUENCES
SOCIETAL
CONSEQUENCES
OUTCOMES
REFINED
PERSUASION
ATTEMPT
FOR MASS
AUDIENCES
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 397
attempts are continuously refined. This process allows for constant revision
of marketing stimuli based on a combination of brain imaging in tandem
with actual consumer behavior. As in the two previous models, the screening
phase is conducted with participants’ awareness and consent, with the
major difference being the invasiveness of data collection on consumer
reactions to promotions through brain scans and their subsequent usages.
Individual Neuromarketing Persuasion Model
The Individual Neuromarketing Model (Figure 4) is a look at the possibilities
that may exist in the coming years. As with the collective neuromarketing
model, the screening phase consists of neuroimaging used with
a test group of consumers. However, the intervention phase in this model is
directed only at individuals as opposed to an undifferentiated mass of consumers.
For instance, consider a buyer who enters a marketplace such as
a department store or mall where she/he typically is bombarded with marketing
stimuli. In order to better understand its impact, retailers may neuroscreen
potential customers upon entering, registering reactions to what they
see, hear, feel, touch, taste, and/or smell, and combining these measurements
and outcomes with previous readings based on earlier visits.
As a consequence, marketing attempts could be targeted directly to consumers
based upon their brain scans. For example, if neuroimaging data
suggest a positive response to the touching of jewelry, the consumer
may experience a personalized discount prominently displayed in their
sightline in order to provide encouragement for purchase. While subjected
to these specific persuasion attempts, the individual’s brain is continuously
monitored to determine if the stimuli are having the desired effects. When
the transaction is or is not completed, the results might be fed back and
FIGURE 4
Individual Neuromarketing Consumer Persuasion Model
NEUROIMAGING
OF TEST
GROUPS’
COGNITIVE &
AFFECTIVE
PROCESSES
SCREENING PHASE
NEUROIMAGING OF
INDIVIDUAL’S
COGNITIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
NEUROIMAGING OF
INDIVIDUAL’S
AFFECTIVE NEURAL
PROCESSES
ATTITUDES
TOWARD
PROMOTION
& PRODUCT
PURCHASE BEHAVIOR
INTERVENTION PHASE
BEHAVIORAL
INTENTIONS
TO BUY
INDIVIDUAL
CONSEQUENCES
SOCIETAL
CONSEQUENCES
OUTCOMES
CONSUMER
ENTERS
MARKETPLACE
EXPERIENCES
MULTIPLE
PRODUCT
STIMULI
TARGETED
PERSUASION
ATTEMPT TO
CONSUMER
PERSUASION
ATTEMPT
WITH
TEST GROUP
NEUROIMAGING
OF CONSUMER’S
COGNITIVE &
AFFECTIVE
PROCESSES
398 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
recorded to create an increasingly more sophisticated picture of the
consumer.
The Individual Neuromarketing Model suggests the greatest concerns
about personal awareness and consent, barring some form of voluntary
or government-mandated disclosures like the ones occurring now on genetically
modified foods. Additionally, while marketer use of neuroimaging
technology will allow consumers to experience exceptionally accurate
and effective marketing stimuli, concerns exist about how individuals’ privacy
will be maintained, who ultimately owns brain scans, whether scans
can be sold to other persons or institutions, and what happens to extraneous
information, such as health problems, revealed by the scans. Such issues are
indicative of both possibilities and dilemmas that lie ahead at the intersection
of marketing and neuroscience.
Together, persuasion models suggest new forms of consumer miscomprehension
that may lead to additional privacy concerns. While a burgeoning
literature is developing on topics such as neuroethics, its primary focus
is on applications outside the marketing domain. The next section attempts
to fill this void by bringing a unique perspective to neuroethics within a
consumer-driven context that is organized around the concept of free will.
This philosophical premise is described briefly, and the resulting argument
frames the ethical implications caused by neuroscience thinking and practice.
Models are evaluated by uniform criteria, followed by closing remarks
that signal the broader policy implications that may become important as
our understanding and training advances.
NEUROSCIENCE, FREE WILL, AND PERSUASION ATTEMPTS
Earlier discussion of neuroscience shows that our biology has an overwhelming
impact on decision making and action, suggesting that even
morality may be outside our purview (see Fukuyama 2002 for an excellent
discussion). Implicit to this belief is that knowing what portions of our
brains are stimulated may reveal the nature of resulting behaviors. Also
noted previously, technology necessary to create visual and dynamic representations
of such processes is developing rapidly, and machinery that is
both portable and unobtrusive may soon be available for use by researchers
and marketers. Such equipment could allow monitoring of consumers with
or without their awareness, permission, or understanding.
This ‘‘brave new world’’ (Huxley 1932) begs the question as to appropriate
responsibilities between consumers and those parties that seek to
influence their beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. Among philosophers there
are differences of opinion on the nature and primacy of human beings that
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 399
may inform this debate (see Klemke 2000). At one end of the spectrum are
scholars who believe that all living creatures are similar, with some having
a few distinctive features but still operating by instinct (Flanagan 2002).
Other researchers who cross the boundaries between science and ethics recognize
these genetic predilections yet believe in our ability to rise above
biology. (Once again see the review by Fukuyama 2002.) Part of this distinction
is based on the long-standing debate concerning free will and its
role in our transcendence beyond nature (Baggini 2005).
The concept of the freedom of the will moved front and center during the
Age of Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Europe, when philosophers
argued about our capacity to use rational judgments to determine both truth
and moral behavior (Wallerstein 1997). Succeeding generations of scholars
examined various aspects of this construct, often suggesting that our culpability
in situations is dependent upon making conscious choices among
the variety of options available and acting voluntarily (Hospers 1953;
Spence 1996). A term coined to represent this context is uncaused causer
(Greene and Cohen 2004), which recognizes that current behavior is not
perceived to be controlled by anyone or anything external to the decision
maker (Levy 2003). As a consequence, free will provides a basis upon
which people have sought to differentiate themselves from each other
and exert that their lives have real importance. Modern approaches eschew
beliefs in externally imposed meaning in favor of internally generated
yearning (Baggini 2005).
Applied ethics scholars have used such theories in business/marketing
contexts to provide a normative structure whereby actions and outcomes in
exchange relationships can be judged (see Murphy, Laczniak, and Wood
2007). A complementary approach to free will is contractualism, and the
work of Rawls (1971) is at the centerpiece of its applications (see Brock
1998; Toenjes 2002). His frame provides legitimate standards by which the
distribution of rights and responsibilities can be determined to the consensual
agreement of exchange partners. These agreements are based on individual
dignity that social arrangements should not violate.
Inherent to this perspective is the division between inequities that result
from poor decision making and inequalities that are due to conditions
beyond one’s control (Tan 2001). For example, differences in relative
power, resources, or information based on dissimilarities in effort or contribution
to exchange relationships are morally acceptable (Cohen 1997).
However, inequities due to discrimination, selfishness, or other forms of
unjustifiable external constraints clearly are immoral. As a whole, Rawlsian
justice suggests that social actors must find ways to interact that satisfy
these conditions and produce solutions that are acceptable to all parties
400 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
(Zanetti 2001). In the final analysis, Rawls (1971) believes that rational
people will establish systems of exchange that avoid downside risks associated
with poor starting positions and allow for fair allocations.
Our contention is that neuroscience findings and methods hold the potential
for marketing practices that threaten consumers’ abilities to follow preferences
and dictates according to free will (Greene 2003) and contradict
Rawlsian justice. This context suggests that external constraints on decision
making imposed by applications of neural manipulation are possible violations.
Transgressions are particularly troublesome when manipulation
occurs without explicit awareness, consent, and understanding. The next
subsections examine the ethical issues that arise in company-to-customer
communications. Potential dilemmas are delineated using the models
described previously as the frame of reference, and disruption of the will
advances as representations move from the traditional to neuromarketing
models. Concerns related to screening, intervention, and outcome phases
are presented using language involving the exercise of choice.
Ethical Issues for Traditional and Revealed Preference Models
The Traditional Model follows the more conventional path in the development
and dissemination of marketing communications for mass audiences.
Advertisements or other persuasion attempts are assessed using
a variety of techniques, including paper and pencil or baseline physiological
measures. While potential ethical conflicts may arise, the primary practice
is that test consumers are aware of and consent to these assessments
prior to and during exposure to marketing stimuli in the screening phase.
Lack of transparency may occur, for example, in the use of one-way mirrors
or other forms of unobtrusive observation of reactions, but such procedures
typically involve behaviors in a more public setting and therefore may not
necessarily be viewed as violating individual privacy rights.
The same perspective may be true of the Revealed Preferences Model
whereby consumers willingly disclose a host of private information about
themselves in what they believe to be reciprocal relationships with firms.
These data often are used in subsequent persuasion attempts that are targeted
directly at individual consumers. Since these persons have agreed to
this arrangement by virtue of their participation, it can be assumed that they
willingly acknowledge and accept use of their profiles in ways that expand
opportunities for them to do business with focal retailers or other involved
marketers.
Nonetheless, the free will frame presented earlier suggests possible ethical
violations that are a function of the lack of true awareness and consent
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 401
on the part of subjects and targeted consumers. Even under the Traditional
Model, it is unlikely that participants in development of various marketing
stimuli fully understand the uses of information gleaned during the screening
phase and how they might be used during future persuasion attempts.
Additionally, while the responses provided are typically applied in summary
form only, the rights to use this information pass to the agency or
firm without an informed assessment of potential consequences by test consumers.
The outcomes of data manipulation and usage are considerably
greater for the Revealed Preferences Model since information is more likely
to be of a sensitive nature, sold to third-party marketers, and used to profile
specific consumers without even cursory awareness.
Ethical Issues for the Collective Neuromarketing Persuasion Model
The Collective Neuromarketing Model also follows the traditional path
involved in the creation of marketing communications for targeted consumers.
The primary difference is that neuroimaging technology is used during
screening of persuasion attempts, which represents a quantum change in
marketers’ ability to judge the impact of communications relative to measures
discussed under the previous models. Not only does neuroimaging
allow researchers to ‘‘read the minds’’ of test subjects more accurately,
it also permits them to delineate which stimuli trigger excitement, trust,
pleasure, i.e., the emotions that lead people to buy. To the extent these stimuli
are unrelated to product characteristics, the result is an attempt to manipulate
the consumer’s purchase decision.
Another area of concern is the degree to which test subjects understand
fully the personal nature of brain scans that are now property of a marketing
group or organization. If the research protocol leaves the test subjects
unaware of potential privacy issues, such lack of transparency may jeopardize
intimate neurological data.
After screening is finished, marketing managers begin a controlled
release of stimuli into the marketplace designed to influence cognitive
and affective neural processes of consumers. Once again, a quick inspection
of these procedures suggests similarity with current marketing practices.
However, the underlying intent is to trigger emotions that
encourage purchase rather than to provide consumers with accurate information
on which to make beneficial decisions.
The free will frame presented earlier suggests that the primary ethical
violation is a function of the lack of awareness, consent, and understanding
on the part of targeted consumers. Given these conditions, potential customers
are unable to make informed decisions about the extent to which
402 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
they would choose to be influenced by such marketing stimuli. Some scholars
may contend that this problem exists with all persuasion attempts since
they often are placed in our sensory path without tacit permission and the
strategic intentions of their developers remain unknown. Nonetheless,
a fundamental distinction between other marketing and collective neuromarketing
tactics is that the former attempts to change beliefs, attitudes,
and behaviors through well-recognized means, while the latter are expert
attempts to trigger buying emotions in consumers.
Ethical Issues for the Individual Neuromarketing Persuasion Model
The Individual Neuromarketing Model mirrors the possible ethical
issues associated with the screening phase of the previous models; however,
the similarities end there. Once the range of possible neural reactions
are explored fully, potential customers are exposed to marketing stimuli
with the intent of creating an individual profile for the purpose of manipulation
using a running series of fine-tuned persuasion attempts that are
continuously monitored and recorded. The first ethical dilemma that arises
within the intervention phase concerns whether consumers are aware of and
consent to omnipresent scrutiny and to targeted/personal exposure to marketing
stimuli. The worst case scenario involves the use of neuroimaging
technology in public contexts where consumers would be oblivious to its
employ and/or its resulting effects on brain functioning and decision making.
Such a context limits consumer free will and violates Rawlsian ethics
since a rational person would never select to be so manipulated.
The next logical scenario allows for awareness of monitoring and development
of personalized marketing tactics using neuroscientific methods
and technologies without true consent. While this combination may seem
unlikely, the possibility exists that consumers will agree to enter a public
shopping environment where they undergo screening in order to maintain
access to marketplace activities that are not easily found elsewhere. Thus,
their perceived or real consumption restrictions may cause potential customers
to subject themselves to unwanted invasion of private mental processes
and to bombardment of their personal space with intrusive marketing
stimuli. These concerns also exist with the previous scenario, but awareness
may reduce the possibility of manipulation, leaving ethical violations associated
with obligatory consent rather than ignorance of intent.
The final scenario applicable to this model includes situations where
consumers are aware of and consent to scrutiny and persuasion attempts.
This situation eliminates many of the dilemmas noted with the two previous
scenarios, but a few issues remain. First, agreement does not ensure a
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 403
complete understanding of how personalized targeting will impact buyer
behavior, likely necessitating warning systems and social marketing programs
that are currently used for addictive or complex products such as
tobacco and alcohol or financial services and healthcare. A second problem
becomes one of relative quality of consumption of persons without these
opportunities. Given the inequities in our material world, some consumers
are likely to experience vulnerability because of their lack of access to such
technologies. The third issue involves how beneficial a resulting purchase is
to the consumer. When a consumer purchases a product based on a decision
in which marketing stimuli unrelated to product characteristics cause affective
neural systems to override cognitive processes, the final purchase outcome
may not always be in the best interest of the consumer.
CLOSING REMARKS
This investigation brings disparate literature and secondary research
together in order to explore the complex persuasion environment for marketers
and consumers of their goods and services resulting from neuroscientific
discoveries. Ethical dilemmas are exacerbated by use of
neuromarketing methods and data, and center on issues of consumer free
will and privacy. The ability to exercise free will in purchasing decisions is
informed by Preston’s (2002) discussion of problematic ‘‘antifactual’’
advertising content consisting of puffery, obvious false claims, and lifestyle
claims. While not technically considered ‘‘deceptive advertising,’’ by the
Federal Trade Commission, they clearly fail to inform consumers about
products—ostensibly the basis of rational purchasing decisions. Neurotechnology
enables marketers to refine persuasion attempts using noninformative
or misinformative content, with the potential to trigger very positive
affective responses in consumers. While some may argue that this technique
only encourages consumers to buy what they really want, Rotfeld
(2007) questions the whole premise of selling people only what they want.
He suggests that marketing should be ‘‘going beyond giving consumers
what they like,’’ but rather ‘‘helping more people understand what they
really should want’’ (p. 384) or need. This stance speaks to the importance
of marketplace education so consumers can exercise free will around purchasing
decisions based on accurate information.
Issues of awareness, consent, and understanding form a cohesive set of
moral questions that are addressed, in part, by free will and Rawlsian justice.
For example, behind a ‘‘veil of ignorance’’ where one fails to know
whether she/he is the marketer or consumer, would she/he select to be
oblivious, ignorant, or restricted? The answer is a clear ‘‘no’’ from the
404 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
perspective of any individual looking out for her/his best interest, and for
whom the ability to exercise free will is a high priority.
Unfortunately, self-regulation and public policy lag behind current practice
and future opportunities. Just as copyright and varied intellectual property
laws established prior to the Internet fail to serve existing legal needs,
so our thinking about lack of transparency surrounding promotional activities
should be updated to include neuromarketing methods. Many within
the academic and practitioner communities may suggest that the natural
skepticism of consumers developed over centuries of dealings in the marketplace
will provide a natural barrier to potential harm. Nonetheless, distrust
is only activated in ways that are relevant to accumulated experiences,
and this ‘‘brave new world’’ portends new transparency concerns that may
have insidious effects as well as unknown consequences.
Regardless, the potential restriction of free will and privacy invasiveness
enabled by neuroimaging technology requires attention by governmental
and academic constituencies. The rapid collection, assessment,
and deployment of brain scanning data anticipated by the latter models
reveal new terrain for researchers and legislators interested in the protection
of consumer rights. Questions as to who owns such information, how
it may be combined with other databases in order to develop more sophisticated
and targeted marketing efforts, and under what conditions it may
be sold or traded with others represent areas that will require attention.
The Federal Trade Commission standards, as articulated in their Fair
Information Practice Principles, are a good starting point and are
designed to acknowledge the rights of consumers (www.ftc.gov/reports/
privacy3/fairinfo.shtm).
These principles are built around five core ideals. The first is notice/
awareness and is central to the remaining standards. Under this guiding
principle, consumers should be told who is collecting data, its possible uses,
and any potential recipients. The second is choice/consent, which is consistent
with our previous discussion on neuromarketing. Consumers are
given the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of the collection of information
and also have the ability to tailor the nature of their data and its uses. The
third is access/participation, which is concerned with the consumer’s capacity
to view, verify, and contest the completeness and accuracy of information
about them in a timely and efficient way. The fourth is integrity/
security and requires that marketers, and their firms ensure that data are
up to date and protected against unauthorized access or manipulation.
The fifth principle involves enforcement/redress. Given our free will
premise, marketing practitioners should be expected to communicate the
uses and outcomes of neuroimaging technology prior to consumer
FALL 2008 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 405
exposure, to allow individuals to opt-out of any or all aspects of the collection
process without penalty, to provide easily accessible and understandable
feedback on personal information, and to ensure that
appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent unwanted third-party exposure.
The first line of defense is self-regulation and would require a crossdisciplinary
group of scholars and practitioners to come together to develop
standards, assessment mechanisms, and sanctions. If this fails to resolve the
most serious problems, private remedies through the court system may
establish the criteria upon which neuromarketing activities will be judged
and constrained, leading to legislative solutions and lawmaker control.
In conclusion, the issues of freedom of will, privacy rights, and the
development and dissemination of advertisements by business operations
are broadened significantly by the inclusion of neuroscience methods and
findings. The conjoining of marketing and neuroscience clearly is in its
infancy, and only the Collective Neuromarketing Model is in use by a growing
assortment of scholars and practitioners. Yet, adoption of the Individual
Neuromarketing Model is more than musings in postmodern novels. It represents
possibilities that will need a combination of voluntary compliance
and regulatory oversight in order to avoid some of the dilemmas noted here.
A critical role for policy makers and consumer scholars is to inform this
debate by monitoring the latest neuroscientific findings and evaluating their
implications for ethical marketing practice.
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