Marketing or Manipulation? Examining the Psychological and Economic Impacts of Decision-Making targeting Strategies on Consumer behavior.

This master’s thesis investigates how modern decision-targeting techniques in digital advertising - driven by neuromarketing, big data and AI personalization - move beyond persuasion into subconscious behavioral engineering. Through a comparative thematic literature review of behavioral economics, neuroscientific studies and regulatory analysis, the study identifies core mechanisms (cognitive-bias stacking, decision-contrast removal, and emotional reinforcement loops), documents their psychological and economic consequences (decision fatigue, cognitive entrapment, market concentration), and proposes a regulatory framework: the Cognitive Market Influence Model (CMIM) to restore decision contrast, increase algorithmic transparency, and protect consumer autonomy. The thesis was submitted to IU International University of Applied Sciences (12 March 2025). Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ali-qusayalhajjaj