Ethics of neuromarketing: Introduction

This section examines ethical concerns that arise in neuromarketing. In particular, the entries in this section discuss ethical issues with regard to brain privacy (Steve Matthews) specifically, “the collection over time, and aggregation of private brain information, where the target loses control over its ownership and distribution” (Steve Matthews); the ethical concerns that Direct Consumer Advertising of Prescription Pharmaceuticals (DTCA) involving implicit persuasion through evaluative conditioning has “deleterious effects on autonomous agency” and that it has a negative impact on the “wider doctor-patient relationship” (Paul Biegler, Jeanette Kennett, Justin Oakley, and Patrick Vargas); and in addition, the Introduction of this section (Edward H. Spence) briefly examines how the association of brands with values raises ethical concerns relating generally to some of the ethical issues examined by the aforementioned authors in this section.