From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
- Viral and Buzz Marketing Association (VBMA) was the first company to come up with a set of guidelines for acceptable viral marketing campaigns in 2004 (VBMA, 2005). Subsequently after that, North America’s Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) followed up by drawing up guidelines which orientate around more on the ethical aspects of viral marketing. (VBMA, 2005). Experts in the field of marketing were also called to provide input in the development of the guidelines as well as VBMA believed that a wider range of opinions and support would help build a more balanced regulation (See Viral Marketing Regulation), especially since the nature of viral marketing often involves a very extensive range of influential and deciding marketing factors (VBMA, 2005).
Code of Ethics
- The guidelines set by WOMMA ("The WOMMA Code") states that:
- 1. Consumer Protection and Respect Are Paramount
- Consumer protection and respect should be of chief important in the development of viral marketing campaigns, with regards to practicing honesty of relationship, opinion, and identity.
- 2. The Honesty ROI: Honesty of Relationship, Opinion, and Identity
- Relationship:
- There should be openness between the marketers and the consumers about any incentives which have been promised by the former.
- Opinion:
- Marketers should not tell consumers what to say as people will form their own honest opinions and convey them to others. The marketer’s role should be to provide information and facilitate the process of word-of-mouth and not to manipulate consumers in their thinking.
- Identity:
- Marketers should establish trust and credibility by clear disclosure of identity and what they do in their business.
- 3. Respect Rules of the Venue
- Marketers should follow the rules of the venue, be it being a website, blog, online forums or live setting. Marketers should not create campaigns or encourage behavior that would violate or disrespect those rules pertaining to the venues.
- 4. Manage Relationships with Minors Responsibly
- Viral marketing campaigns should not involve children aged under 13 years old and that it should abide all existing legal regulations on marketing to this audience group.
- 5. Promote Honest Downstream Communications
- In each viral marketing campaign, marketers should advocate ethical behaviour in their communication efforts.
- 6. Protect Privacy and Permission
- Viral marketing campaigns should allow consumers to opt-in in receiving viral marketing efforts by obtaining their permission before gathering or obtaining information from the consumer (See Permission/Privacy Marketing). In addition, any personally identifiable information obtained in the course of the campaign should not be used in any other way not known to the consumer.
- Code of ethics adapted from WOMMA's website at http://www.womma.org/ethicscode.htm
- Much emphasis of the code of ethics has been given on the transparency between the campaign organization and the consumer. WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz highlighted this point by stating that the word-of-mouth marketing community needs to follow a set of ethical guidelines so that viral marketing will not become the “new spam�? (Gupta, 2005, "WOMMA Advocates Transparency For Buzz Marketers"). The code itself states that WOMMA stands against “shill and undercover marketing, whereby people are paid to make recommendations without disclosing their relationship with the marketer" ("The WOMMA Code", 2005), emphasizing that campaign organizers should monitor and evaluate the disclosure of consumers’ identities during viral marketing efforts (Gupta, 2005, "WOMMA Advocates Transparency For Buzz Marketers").
References
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--Jamie Tang 00:45, 28 Oct 2005 (EST)
