NEUROMARKETING AND ETHICAL CONSUMER MANIPULATION

Abstract

The marketing system in today’s world has witnessed a significant transformation with the advent of digital technologies, which set the stage for the study of multidisciplinary tools to be applied in cross-domain research in marketing. This article provides an overview of the evolution of marketing, starting with an overview that links basic marketing principles and consumer decision processes. The article examines about the neurology, neuroscience, and its application in marketing, giving rise to a new concept named neuromarketing. This article studies the cross-domain applications in marketing by combining psychology, neuroscience, and consumer behavior. This study highlights the neuroscience tools used in commercial research such as Electroencephalography (EEG), Functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), Magnetoencephalography, Positron-emission tomography (PET), Eye tracking (ET), Facial electromyography (fEMG) and Facial Coding (FC) in order to study how each method maps onto attention, emotion, memory, and preference formation on various ads and products served by the companies. Drawing on examples of corporate applications across industries, the study identifies that neuromarketing improves marketing strategies and helps to examine the preferences of consumers and serve them accordingly. At the same time, the article also sheds light on the ethical concerns arising from neuromarketing, specifically the privacy and autonomy of consumers. In order to overcome such limitations of neuromarketing, this study has attempted to highlight the regulatory bodies exclusively working towards ensuring responsible neuromarketing application. The article concludes with practical recommendations for governance, which include informed consent, transparency in research and advertising, strict data protection, an industry code of conduct, and the involvement of consumer protection agencies and the emergence of neuroethics bodies. By balancing innovation with tech growth, the study argues that neuromarketing can contribute to ethical marketing rather than merely enabling manipulation.