Market Grooming: The Dark Side of AI Marketing

In the era of generative artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, business analytics and mega global digital corporations, the profession of marketing is at a crossroads between 'Prosumer-Marketing' and 'Market Grooming'.Whereas prosumer (producers 1 consumers) marketing means a process of exchange in which producers and consumers have equal, just, control, voluntary, fully aware engagement and control over the process of design, development and exchange of goods, services and values.On the other hand, 'Market Grooming' is a one-sided, unethical process of conditioning or influencing, deceiving, or persuading or manipulating and even exploiting customers by the marketing organisations, without customers' voluntary consent, permissions, awareness, etc. As the consumers have asymmetric access to information, asymmetric and lesser favourable levels of control, and lesser power in the process of exchange, as customers trust the marketers or are dependent on popular brands, the markers tend to exploit the situation. The process of market grooming has become easier due to the power of AI, generative AI, ChatGPT, TikToketing, machine learning and big data analytics leading to the development of sophisticated predictive models and persuasive models. This chapter explores and analyses a range of techniques in marketing such as permission marketing, flywheel marketing, subliminal marketing, neuromarketing, cyberstalking, ethical marketing, etc., in the era of AI. The arguments for high concerns pertaining to potential market grooming are supported by theories of ethics, theories of digital marketing and models of AI. The chapter concludes with some strategic recommendations.