Part 6: Unethical Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategies

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The WOMMA site has a nice section defining Word-of-Mouth Marketing.  In the next several post, I’ll be taking my material from that site. 

Below is the final part, Part 5.

Any practice intended to deceive people is unethical and should not be used.

WOMMA is absolutely opposed to the following unethical word of mouth marketing tactics:

• Stealth Marketing: Any practice designed to deceive people about the involvement of marketers in a communication.
• Shilling: Paying people to talk about (or promote) a product without disclosing that they are working for the company; impersonating a customer.
• Infiltration: Using fake identities in an online discussion to promote a product; taking over a web site, conversation, or live event against the wishes or rules set by the proprietor.
• Comment Spam: Using automated software (‘bots’) to post unrelated or inappropriate comments to blogs or other online communities.
• Defacement: Vandalizing or damaging property to promote a product.
• Spam: Sending bulk or unsolicited email or other messages without clear, voluntary permission.
• Falsification: Knowingly disseminating false or misleading information.

Word of mouth marketing cannot be faked

Artificial word of mouth marketing is dishonest and ineffective. Word-of-mouth marketing must be based on the honest opinions of real people. We strongly oppose any practice that tries to fake word of mouth.

Ethical and responsible word of mouth marketers do not …

• Impersonate people, shill, or hide their identities
• Manipulate or corrupt honest opinions
• Infiltrate, invade, or violate online or offline venues

Dishonest word of mouth marketing will always be exposed and deplored.

Marketers must work to oppose and eliminate unethical practices

All marketers should be aware that unethical practices are currently used by unscrupulous or uninformed companies. The standards of ethics and consumer protection are evolving rapidly, and many marketers have not yet learned about the current standards (or choose to ignore them). Regardless of intent, such unethical practices jeopardize consumer trust and ultimately harm both consumers and honest marketers.

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This is Part 6 of a 6-Part Series on Word-of-Mouth Marketing.  The other related articles can be found below:

• Part 1: What is Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Part 2: Types of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Part 3: The Philosophy of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Part 4: Organic vs Amplified Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Part 5: Positive Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategies
• Part 6: Unethical Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategies

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