Ethical Issues in Multilevel Marketing: Is It a Legitimate Business or Just Another Pyramid Scheme?

Because of their inherent interest in marketing, students in marketing and sales classes are often approached by those attempting to recruit them to become involved in multilevel marketingprograms. When students are presented with such a business opportunity, they often turn to their marketing professors for advice. Marketing educators need to be able to help their students differentiate ethical, legitimate business opportunities from those that are not. The current paper presents five questions students should ask when trying to ascertain the ethical and legal legitimacy of a multilevel marketing opportunity.