The current scholarly discourse increasingly emphasizes the concept of responsibility within the field of marketing. Over the past decade, research has expanded to explore critical challenges such as environmental sustainability, social responsibility, mental health and social care and the numerous unintended consequences of digitization towards augmented and virtual realities and the metaverse (Hensen et al., 2016; Hilken et al. 2022; Petit et al. 2020). De Ruyter et al. (2022), propose a focus on responsible, resilient and responsive marketing strategies, that help to facilitate the transformation towards the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) as proposed by the United Nations in 2015 to promote society, economy, and the environment in a sustainable way (e.g., Establish Good Health and Well-Being, Provide Quality Education, Enforce Gender Equality, Grow Affordable and Clean Energy, Create Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduce Inequality, Mobilize Sustainable Cities and Communities, Influence Responsible Consumption and Production, Organize Climate Action).
Yet, efforts to enhance sustainability perceptions and choices have been frequently linked to hindering cognitive mechanisms such as product perception bias (e.g. Antonetti & Maklan, 2016) or aversive emotional states such as reactance (e.g. Hinsch et al., 2021) and therefore often result in negative side effects from well-intended marketing actions (e.g. Meng & Leary, 2021).
Consumers’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about ethical, healthy, and sustainable consumption, as well as personal well-being—like privacy, financial decisions or the (over-) use of digital media and new technologies, are intimate, often hard to articulate and subject to strong social desirability bias. This explains the often-limited success and sometimes backfiring of ‘responsible’ marketing efforts (e.g., Acuti et al., 2022).
Understanding these, often implicit, factors that shape consumer decision making in greater detail is essential to developing a deeper understanding of consumer actions and paving the road for a more effective responsible marketing strategy.
The calls for alternatives and complementary measures beyond the classic self- reported measures in consumer research date back several decades (e.g. Senior & Lee, 2008) but remain just as relevant today (Aeron & Rahman, 2023). Discussed under the umbrella term of Neuromarketing, more objective, sensor or algorithm-based measurements have the potential to provide unbiased assessments of affective and cognitive states, as well as deeper insights into underlying implicit and unconscious cognitive and emotional processes shaping consumer decisions (e.g. He et al., 2021; Smidts et al., 2014). They can help to understand and reduce biases or stereotypes and therefore have the potential to guide responsible marketing strategies.
Yet only a limited number of publications have combined these two relevant streams of research. Some recent notable exceptions are Sandoval & Gracia Madariaga (2023), who investigate non-profit advertising effectiveness through an EEG- and Eye tracking lens. Fernandez-Lores et al (2023) find that framing effects in healthcare campaigns can be explained through implicit affective processes measured by EEG and GSR. Friedmann et al. (2024), investigate the implicit consumer responses to discriminatory marketing practices and develop guidelines for more ethical campaigns. Meyer et al., (2024) show how FOMO effects prevent sustainable investment with the help of EEG and GSR. Petit et al. (2016) demonstrated through fMRI how the promotion of healthy foods (health-focused vs. sensory-focused framing) can alter decision-making processes and support consumers, particularly those with overweight, in making better choices for their well-being.
The aim of this special issue is to thus advance the research field at the intersection of neuromarketing and responsible marketing strategies. We invite contributions that bridge these disciplines to address pressing challenges, contribute to a better understanding of consumer decision making and foster innovative solutions for responsible marketing in the rapidly evolving marketing landscape.
Topics for this call for papers include but are not restricted to:
- Implicit Biases: Understanding implicit biases preventing sustainable consumer behavior (e.g., gender or product stereotypes)
- Better Understanding of Individual Differences for Inclusive Marketing: Neuromarketing could provide valuable insights into how individual differences, such as personality, cognitive styles, or even neurophysiological responses, influence consumer behavior.
- Moral & Ethical Dilemmas: Understanding the cognitive and affective factors impacting moral and ethical dilemmas for consumers.
- Nudges: Behavioral Nudges can be useful remedies for Biases and Research on Nudges informed by neuroscience could add an innovative angle to the discussion.
- Digitization & Innovative Technology: Using neuroscientific methods, as well built-in sensors in wearable devices, to better understand the effects of new digital environments (e.g. VR, AR, social media, metaverse) on consumption, decision-making, and consumer well- being.
- Sensory Marketing: Neuromarketing can improve our understanding of how sensory inputs influence perception and behavior, thereby facilitating mindful and embodied self- regulation among consumers.
- Methods: Innovative methodologies to show objective consumer measurements related to responsible marketing
