Neuromarketing: Ethical Implications of its Use and Potential Misuse

Neuromarketing is an emerging field in which academic and industry research scientists employ neuroscience techniques to study marketing practices and consumer behavior. The use of neuroscience techniques, it is argued, facilitates a more direct understanding of how brain states and other physiological mechanisms are related to consumer behavior and decision making. Herein, we will articulate common ethical concerns with neuromarketing as currently practiced, focusing on the potential risks to consumers and the ethical decisions faced by companies. We argue that the most frequently raised concerns—threats to consumer autonomy, privacy, and control—do not rise to meaningful ethical issues given the current capabilities and implementation of neuromarketing research. But, we identify how potentially serious ethical issues may emerge from neuromarketing research practices in industry, which are largely proprietary and opaque. We identify steps that can mitigate associated ethical risks and thus reduce the threats to consumers. We conclude that neuromarketing has clear potential for positive impact on society and consumers, a fact rarely considered in the discussion on the ethics of neuromarketing.     

Fashion creation and diffusion: The institution of marketing

Abstract

In scholarly discussions, marketing tends to be imagined and (re)presented as a practice of organisations, involving a set of activities, whereby consumer desires are discovered and provided for through two-way communication. By studying the creation and diffusion of fashion, we observe that marketing is not simply a mechanism or set of activities but an institution of modern society that involves all social elements together with consumers and marketing organisations. Through a qualitative inquiry with both consumers and producers, we illustrate how these different elements exercise their roles and responsibilities for marketing to work as an institution. By this illustration, we also provide a perspective on how trickle-up, trickle-across, and trickle-down diffusions are simultaneously operative in fashion. Finally, we articulate the implications of recognising marketing as an institution that will help marketing scholars and practitioners in reorganising and re-strategising their purpose and role in society as modernity evolves.     

Deconstructing the meerkat: fabular anthropomorphism,popular culture,and the market

Abstract

In this paper we attempt to create an understanding of fabular anthropomorphism of particular relevance to marketing communication. Through an examination of the religious, anthropological, rhetorical and marketing literature on personification and anthropomorphism we arrive at six principles that characterise the use of animals as symbols in instructional storytelling. We then examine the applicability of these principles by investigating the way in which meerkats have recently been used in popular culture and marketing communication. We find that our proposed definition of a marketing-orientated fabular anthropomorphism is broadly applicable and is helpful in understanding why certain anthropomorphic depictions will resonate with audiences and others will not.

Summary statement of contribution This research proposes a set of principles that help us to understand the way in which fabular instantiations of anthropomorphism can be successfully used in marketing communication. It presents a case study that demonstrates the applicability of the findings.     

Emergent Internet Technology Applications for Relationship Marketing

Abstract

In this paper we bring together the concepts of Relationship Marketing (RM) in the marketing literature and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Information Systems (IS) literature to identify and assess emergent Internet-based Information Technologies (IT) that add value for consumers. We focus on the customer's perspective by identifying the key benefits consumers seek when they enter into IT-mediated interactions with sellers. We review the IS-CRM literature and identify 8 critical IT categories that have the potential for changing how buyers and sellers establish and maintain relationships in the Internet era. Subsequently, we introduce a conceptual model, which considers the nature of the consumer's involvement with sellers through emergent Internet-based technologies in juxtaposition to potential technology-based benefits to consumers. We then discuss the implications of this proposed direction. Finally, we discuss a future research agenda, which considers the use of IT in relationship management.     

Relationship Marketing and the Challenge of Dialogical Interaction

SUMMARY

Our aim in this article is to challenge relationship marketing's hidden monological assumptions, and as a redress, position dialogical interaction at its core. First, we reflect on the common sense of ‘marketing communication’. Next, we clarify the concept of ‘dialogue’. We then comment on the concept of dialogue in markets, building on Karl Popper's idea of an open society, followed by scrutiny of general marketing practice to show that such dialogue is absent. We then consider the potential for marketing to be dialogical in nature. To do this we will make a necessary distinction between informational interaction, communicational interaction, and dialogical interaction. Finally, we draw the conclusion that dialogue is not so much a method of communication but an orientation to it, and consider some implications for marketing theory and practice.     

Nanomarketing: A New Frontier for Neuromarketing

The emergence of neuromarketing has significantly advanced conventional marketing research, illuminating how unconscious responses and emotions impact consumers’ perceptions and decision‐making processes. Neuromarketing is founded on the assumption that individual sensory and motor systems can be identified in specific networks of brain cells, the observation of which can reveal the unconscious or emotional characteristics of consumer decision making. Yet, neuromarketing technologies present several limitations that can impede the extension and validation of their application: (i) the development of high‐priced and time‐restricted neuroimaging experiments; (ii) the employment of large and immovable devices confined to artificial laboratory environments; (iii) the use of a single neuroimaging technology at a time (usually the functional magnetic resonance imaging); (iv) the use of a single nonneuroimaging device at a time; and (v) the potentially unethical manipulation of research subjects. One way to address these issues involves nanotechnologies, which present a ground‐breaking opportunity for neuromarketing research. These technologies encompass not only the traditional notion of structures, devices, and systems created by limiting shape and size at the nanometer scale, but also the new miniaturized tools based on one or more nanocomponents. The integration of neuromarketing and nanotechnologies could start a new field of research, which is termed here nanomarketing. Nanomarketing makes it possible to: (i) carry out noninvasive and nonintrusive experiments in shopping places; (ii) monitor consumers’ mental processes in real time; (iii) combine different technologies to corroborate results obtained by different neuroscientific tools; (iv) integrate neurophysiological field indicators with laboratory neuroimaging results; and (v) highlight ethical issues raised by the use of these novel, portable, and easy‐to‐use nanodevices. This study thus has a twofold aim: (i) investigating both the limitations and opportunities, for researchers and practitioners, that accompany the miniaturization process and application of nanotechnologies to neuromarketing; and (ii) providing a critical review of the aforementioned limitations, highlighting the theoretical and managerial implications, and summarizing the discussion for future research.     

Historical research in marketing theory and practice: a review essay

Abstract

This paper reviews 30 years of interdisciplinary scholarship that deals with marketing history or the history of marketing thought. We have ranged across the humanities and social sciences to review the very best scholarship that these domains have produced which speaks to issues likely to concern the readers of the Journal of Marketing Management (JMM). These domains include: the history of marketing management, history of market research, history of market segmentation, product management history, retailing and channels history, promotion history, advertising history, the history of marketing thought, and marketing and the management of subjectivity, among others. Given obvious page limitations we have nevertheless tried to appeal to the paradigmatic span of the readers of the JMM. With this in mind, we have critically reviewed material that will be of interest to managerially oriented academics, as well as those who subscribe to consumer culture theoretics and critical marketing studies.     

Marketing (as) Rhetoric: paradigms,provocations, and perspectives

ABSTRACT

In this collection of short, invited essays on the topic of marketing (as) rhetoric we deal with a variety of issues that demonstrate the centrality of rhetoric and rhetorical considerations to the pursuit of marketing scholarship, research and practice. Stephen Brown examines the enduring rhetorical power of the 4Ps; Chris Hackley argues for the critical power of rhetorical orientations in marketing scholarship but cautions us on the need to work harder in conceptually connecting rhetorical theory and modern marketing frameworks; Shelby Hunt explains how rhetorical processes are incorporated in his inductive realist model of theory generation, using one of his most successful publications as an illustration; Charles Marsh demonstrates what Isocrates’ broad rhetorical project has to teach us about the importance of reputation cultivation in modern marketing; Nicholas O’Shaughnessy uses an analysis of Trump’s discourse to argue that political marketing as it is currently conceived is ill-equipped to engage effectively with the rhetorical force of Trump’s ‘unmarketing’; Barbara Phillips uses Vygotsky’s work on imagination to investigate the important of pleasure and play in advertising rhetoric; and finally, David Tonks, who in many ways started it all, reiterates the need for marketers to recognise the strength of the relationship between marketing and persuasion.     

Customer Lifetime Value as the Basis of Customer Segmentation

SUMMARY

In this article, we examine current trends in customer life-time value and customer segmentation models and identify key issues for future research. CLV-based segmentation is a segmentation approach that groups customers into meaningful segments based upon customer lifetime value and (potentially) other factors. In the article, we discuss the extent to which CLV-based segmentation meets the criteria for effective segmentation. We also identify six areas for future research: (1) models and management of “micro-segments,” (2) using CLV-based segmentation to improve the efficiency of marketing programs, (3) the need for more dynamic CLV-based segmentation models, (4) applying CLV-based customer segmentation to new products and new customers, (5) challenges associated with implementing CLV-based segmentation, and (6) the need for new models that enable firms to segment customers by response to marketing activities and CLV at different points in the customer decision process.     

Master's Level Education in Business Marketing: Quo Vadis?

ABSTRACT

Given the paucity of knowledge on the state of business marketing education at the master's level, we conducted an exploratory survey of instructors at selected universities in North America and Europe. We supplemented results from this survey with discussions with our colleagues who teach business marketing at the master's level, and a review of articles on master's level programs.

Through our investigations, we discovered that there is a shortage of management cases that address contemporary issues in business marketing. We learned that nearly half of survey participants do not use a textbook and that the remaining participants use a wide variety of textbooks. We observed that many instructors still teach business marketing courses from a traditional functional perspective. Instead, we believe that business marketing courses must address a host of emerging issues such as value and its assessment, business process reengineering, global marketing, working relationships and business networks, and cross-functional coordination issues, among other things.

We believe that scholars can rejuvenate the discipline by tailoring business marketing courses to the new generation of accelerated master's programs, by creating a network for sharing information on new cases and teaching materials, and by writing more relevant and timely business marketing cases. Finally, we believe that the time is right for a faculty consortium on teaching business marketing.     

Back to basics in the marketing of place: the impact of litter upon place attitudes

Abstract

Attempts to apply marketing theory and principles to place have become a legitimate area of academic and ‘real world’ practice. However, place marketing does not typically incorporate all elements of the traditional 7 Ps, focusing far too often on just one of these – promotion. Besides this rather myopic approach, place marketing suffers from an overly strategic view of the world that ignores the meaning and lived experience of places to individuals, especially residents. The purpose of this article is twofold – first, we investigate the impact of litter on place attitudes. Litter is a common, but negative, element of place, which is intimately connected to the lived experience of a place but typically far removed from the positive promotional activity favoured by place marketing efforts and the study thereof. In this sense, the article reframes place marketing from a strategic to a micro-marketing endeavour. We found that exposing respondents to litter significantly lowers their place attitudes. Our second contribution is to demonstrate the relevance of classic marketing research approaches, such as attitudinal measures, to investigate litter and its impact on place evaluations, through quasi-experimental design (with 662 respondents). Through this, we extend the range of theory and method applied in place marketing – away from controllable promotional endeavours investigated through case-studies to a more holistic and robust interpretation of place marketing, which has a measurable impact upon the places where people live and visit.     

Subverting sustainability: market maintenance work and the reproduction of corporate irresponsibility

ABSTRACT

While marketing’s potential to foster environmental sustainability has been acknowledged in sustainability marketing thinking, we still know little about the forms of organisational conduct through which sustainability recurrently fails to gain traction as a serious agenda in markets. Drawing on recent discussions on corporate irresponsibility and institutional work in markets, this article employs a discourse analysis to examine marketing managers’ strategies to legitimise food waste generation in the organisation of retail. The study highlights three interlinked strategies of institutional work for the subversion of sustainability and thus the reproduction of unsustainable excess production and consumption: the framing of environmental responsibility as risk, cost and consumer choice.     

Exploring the Role of Product Development Capability for Transforming Marketing Intelligence into Firm Performance

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study examines the role of product development capability for transforming marketing intelligence activities into firm performance on industrial markets.

Methodology/Approach: The authors apply structural equation modeling to analyze survey data from 342 industrial manufacturing companies.

Findings: Results reveal that sales integration and holistic macroeconomic view are particularly important features of the marketing intelligence capability on industrial markets to gain additional insights in order to develop products successfully. Results also reveal that product development capability transforms the marketing intelligence activities into firm performance on industrial markets.

Research Implications: This study offers new insights on marketing theory by extending and concretizing the concept of market orientation to a broader concept of the marketing intelligence capability for industrial markets. Further, this research reveals that the product development capability serves as a mediator to business performance.

Practical Implications: This study’s systematic and tangible outline of the dimensions of marketing intelligence and its link to the product development capability helps firms to better understand how to capitalize on market orientation’s potential values.

Originality/Value/Contribution: This research (a) reveals the relevant dimensions of marketing intelligence on industrial markets and (b) shows how the product development capability tranforms marketing intelligence activities into firm performance on industrial markets.     

Global Marketing Channels and the Standardization Controversy

Abstract

Since the early 1960s, standardization has often been viewed as an efficient strategy for global marketers while others have argued for the relative merits of adaptation. A review of the literature reveals two important points: first, relative to other areas of marketing, channels of distribution are given short shrift in the standardization versus adaptation debate; second, of the existing literature on the standardization of global marketing channels, academicians and practitioners generally concur that marketing channels cannot be standardized. This conclusion may be premature. Thus, this paper offers a conceptual framework for the possible standardization of global marketing channels. A schematic model of the domestic marketing channel development process is extended to the global arena and a framework for the evaluation of the standardization alternatives in the international marketing channels development context is presented.     

The Influence of Product/Nudity Congruence on Advertising Effectiveness

Abstract

While a body of research has examined the effects of nudity appeals in advertising, previous studies examining the question of product/nudity congruency have failed to consider product categories of equivalent levels of involvement and towards which respondents had similar purchase intention. In this experimental study, we examine the role which product/nudity congruency and levels of nudity have on several measures of advertising effectiveness. We also examine the effect of the usa between these two variables. Our findings suggest that product type and the interaction between degree of nudity and product both influence significantly certain measures of advertising effectiveness. Implications for marketing professionals and researchers are outlined, along with directions for future research.     

Marketing strategy and the hunt for era V

ABSTRACT

This paper is a response to a recent special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management in which Shelby Hunt celebrates the achievements of 40 years of marketing strategy. In noting the passing of the ‘old guard’, Hunt calls on a new generation of scholars to meet the challenges confronting marketing and to develop new theories and frameworks to advance Marketing Strategy into Era V. We take for our inspiration Hunt’s own words, specifically his reference to the ‘promising’ and ‘problematic’ that he uses to characterise the current and latent state of marketing strategy. To build our vision and map out our agenda we offer an alternative reading of this discipline through the idea of Marketing Strategy as Discourse (MSAD). Within the paper, we outline the role that discourse can perform as a resource to reconfigure our appreciation of marketing strategy.     

Reframing gender and feminist knowledge construction in marketing and consumer research: missing feminisms and the case of men and masculinities

Abstract

Gender has been theorised and studied in many ways and across different disciplines. Although a number of these theorisations have been recognised and adopted in marketing and consumer research, the significance of feminism in knowledge construction has largely remained what we would call ‘unfinished’. Based on a critical reframing of gender research in marketing and consumer research, in dialogue with feminist theory, this article offers theoretical and practical suggestions for how to reinvigorate these research efforts. The analysis highlights dominant theorisations of gender, relating to gender as variable, difference and role; as fundamental difference and structuring; and as cultural and identity constructions. This reframing emphasises various neglected or ‘missing feminisms’, including queer theory; critical race, intersectional and transnational feminisms; material-discursive feminism; and critical studies on men and masculinities. A more detailed discussion of the latter, as a relatively new, growing and politically contentious area, is further developed to highlight more specifically which feminist and gender theories are mainly in use in marketing and consumer research and which are little or not used. In the light of this, it is argued that marketing and related disciplines have thus far largely neglected several key contemporary gender and feminist theorisations, particularly those that centre on gender power relations. The potential impact of these theoretical frames on transdisciplinary studies in marketing and consumer research and research agenda(s) is discussed.     

Commentary on “Business-to-Business Marketing Textbooks: A Comparative Review”

ABSTRACT

The proposal by Backhaus, Muehlfeld, and Okoye (2002) to design a business marketing text around a framework of customer-relationship types is provocative and spawns a useful debate on the issue of what should actually be taught in the business marketing course, particularly at the undergraduate level. We believe that the approach may increase the attention given to relationship marketing but do so by sacrificing coverage of core content that students and informed business marketing managers need to know. In the end, we opt for a more comprehensive approach in exploring strategy making for the business market while they chart a narrower and more specialized path.     

The weight of the saddened soul: the bidirectionality between physical heaviness and sadness and its implications for sensory marketing

ABSTRACT

Heaviness is a bodily metaphor used to express sadness. Building on embodied cognition theory and metaphor theory, we argue that sadness is grounded in bodily sensation of heaviness, which has important sensory marketing implications for engaging consumer senses to affect consumer decision-making and attitude formation processes. We found support for this metaphorical link between heaviness and sadness across six studies. We showed that carrying a heavy bag saddened individuals and increased the valuation of a teddy bear. Intention to donate to a charity supporting endangered tigers increased when burdened participants watched a sad video about these animals. Conversely, sadness induced physical heaviness and increased preference for an easy-to-maintain sofa. Further, sad individuals disliked an advertisement for a sports drink that figured energy-consuming actions. Our findings inform sensory marketing practice about embedding the bodily sensation of heaviness to induce sadness in marketing communication.     

Behind influencer marketing: key marketing decisions and their effects on followers’ responses

ABSTRACT

Influencer marketing actions are mostly carried out on social platforms, e.g., Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. However, despite its increasing use, studies on this subject are still scarce. In this research, we focus on four essential factors related to an influencer marketing programme, analyzed in two separate experimental studies for theoretical reasons and methodological operability: brand control over the shared message and its commercial orientation; and, the celebrity level of the influencer and his/her congruence with the product/service they comment on in the post. We are also interested in the effects of these factors on a set of key responses by the follower with regard to the elements that form part of an influencer marketing action: the influencer, the post, and the product/service.