Ethics and neuromarketing 2015–2025: the lost opportunity

Purpose This paper aims to examine the past decade of the relationship between ethics and neuromarketing. While neuromarketing is increasingly used in an ever-greater area of applications, the discussion around ethics is infrequently discussed. Design/methodology/approach The expectation was that a burgeoning movement toward more widespread ethical standards – originating in Europe and then moving to the U.S. and beyond – would provide a check on the power of this emerging specialty. Instead, the trendline in neuromarketing over the past 10 years has inexorably moved away from an ethical base and toward a “win at all costs” reality. Findings In the end, while there was some positive movement toward ethical frameworks prior to COVID, the worldwide implementation of neuromarketing techniques to underpin many of the pandemic’s most drastic countermeasures and suppress dissent seriously damaged the progress that had been made. Originality/value As the Editor of Ethics and Neuromarketing (Springer 2016) and Guest Editor of a Special Issue on neuromarketing for the European Journal of Marketing (2018) the author can evaluate the past 10 years accurately.