Conducting neuromarketing studies ethically-practitioner perspectives

Figures & data

Table 1. Seven additional codes by Hensel et al. (2016)

Additional ethical codes	Neuromarketing code of ethics from Murphy et al. (2008)
	1. Research subjects	2. Vulnerable populations	3. Full disclosure	4. Accurate representation	5. Scientific validity
Incentives should be appropriate to avoid distortions of participants’ behavior	x
Prevent manipulation of consumer behavior (“stealth marketing”)		x
Protect vulnerable groups (e.g. elderly, infants, disabled) from marketing exploitation		x
Participation of vulnerable groups (e.g. disabled, adolescents, elderly) should be subject to particular care	x
Debriefing in case of covert data collection/incomplete disclosure			x
Disclosure of tools and measurement scales when possible				x
Ensure detailed rules for acting ethically with respect to communication of neuromarketing results				x

Table 2. Overview of position and experience of our interview partners

Position	Academic degree	Experience
Founder and Joint Managing Director	PhD in Psychology	Active in the field of neuromarketing for 10 years
Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer	PhD Psychological & Brain Sciences	Active in the field of neuromarketing for 16 years
Chief Operating Officer and CEO	Master of Business Administration	Active in the field of marketing for 25 years and in the field of neuromarketing for 6 years
Founder and joint Managing Director	PhD in Psychology	Active in the field of neuromarketing for 10 years
Founder and Managing Director	PhD in Computer Science	Active in the field of neuromarketing for 14 years
Founder and Owner	PhD in Psychology	Active in the field of neuromarketing for 5 years
Scientific/Academic Director and CEO	PhD in Germanic Philology	Active in the field of marketing for 30 years
Marketing consultant	MS in International Business and Management Development	Active in the field of marketing for 15 years
Head of Consumer Research	PhD in Economics	Active in the field of neuromarketing since 6 years
Head of Strategy	Master of Science in Management	Active in the field of neuromarketing for 7 years

Table 3. Additional codes and selected verification interview quotes

Seven additional codes by Hensel et al. (2016)	Illustrative quotes
Code 1: Incentives should be appropriate to avoid distortions of participants’ behavior	According to their participation, participants are [...] given fair compensation for their time
Code 2: Prevent manipulation of consumer behavior (“stealth marketing”)	I would say that an ethical problem is that one could probably implicitly push underneath something or that the study could be used to develop advertisements, which is so tricky, it will seduce us into buying something that we usually wouldn’t
Code 3: Protect vulnerable groups (e.g. elderly, infants, disabled) from marketing exploitation	In cases that involve minors, we only take on projects that foster the betterment of their mental or physical well-being
Code 4: Participation of vulnerable groups (e.g. disabled, adolescents, elderly) should be subject to particular care	When children are involved, we obtain consent by parental proxy
Code 5: Debriefing in case of covert data collection/incomplete disclosure	Given the nature of the data we collect, it is a pleasure to personally debrief participants on our studies
	Generally stated, we debrief all participants in lay terms and answer all questions to the best of our ability
	Following their participation, participants are debriefed on the nature of the research question [...]
Code 6: Disclosure of tools and measurement scales when possible	Even the algorithms we use are public available information, because we obtain these algorithms from reputable scientific sources. We only utilize neuromarketing tools when we are absolutely convinced that they are scientifically based and have been proven by independent parties. As such, everything we do has already been completely documented and is from published sources
	We only use equipment and protocols that have been validated by the scientific community
Code 7: Ensure detailed rules for acting ethically with respect to communication of neuromarketing results	The real ethical problems in our business are the overpromises (and even lies) of companies and/or “neuro TV evangelists,” who cause great harm to our industry. […] Many people without experience in marketing and with no neurology knowledge are conducting research and doing business consulting

Table 4. Five additional codes from neuromarketing practitioners’ interviews

Additional aspects	Illustrative quotes
Sufficient sample size for neuromarketing studies	This is a way to ensure validity and in general, to conduct data collection correctly for the target group and a sufficient number of cases
	We need at least 20 data points to draw a valid conclusion. This is the minimum amount of data points for scientific studies
Specific quality check of neuromarketing data	We actually go through each individual data-set manually and look at the data quality, correct for artifacts, etc., in order to reach the highest possible level of data quality
No NM for optimization of “unhealthy” products (e.g. tobacco or alcohol industry) (especially with respect to youth customers)	We would never run studies that could endanger the health of people. For example, we have never managed studies for the tobacco Industry
	Cigarettes, by which people harm themselves, or alcohol. Where it would help the tobacco companies to influence even more young people, so that more start smoking and harm themselves or even die younger. This is all highly ethically problematic
No use of non-scientific methods	From our point of view, the use of Toy Tools and this associated nonprofessional issue are the real ethical problem in our business
	First and foremost, we only work with equipment that meets scientific standards. We do not use any toy EEGs, no cheap eye trackers or things which you can somehow have huge accuracy drifts from
	Only use the ones validated by the scientific field of neuroscience
Conducted by neuroscientists for studies with complex methods (e.g. fMRI)	[…] EEG, Eye tracking and fMRI with neuroscientist’s guide
	All our studies are conducted by neuroscientists and can be checked by any neurologist or marketing expert

Hensel, D., Wolter, L., & Znanewitz, J. (2016). A guideline for ethical aspects in conducting neuromarketing studies. In A. R. Thomas, N. A. Pop, A. M. Iorga, & C. Ducu (Eds.), Ethics and neuromarketing - implications for market research and business practice (pp. 65–87). Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-45609-6_4

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Murphy, E. R., Illes, J., & Reiner, P. B. (2008). Neuroethics of neuromarketing. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 7, 293–302. doi:10.1002/cb.252

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