Can marketing catch up to animal science?
The answer lies in the 117 powerful words below.
Scientists are increasingly willing to concede that animals have the capacity for consciousness and that such an understanding entails ethical responsibilities.
They are walking away from the moral disregard of behaviorism.
It relates to marketing in that so many marketing tactics and tricks rely on a naive foundation of implied behaviorism.
We don’t have to work that way. We can place our bets on stakeholders having capacity for conscious experience and treat them accordingly.
Text: The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness
Which animals have the capacity for conscious experience? While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged.
First, there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds.
Second, the empirical evidence indicates at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects).
Third, when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal. We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.
