خلاصة:
Network marketing is a type of direct selling, which is also known as "multi-level marketing" or "multi-level direct selling". Although this type of marketing has become the most dynamic part of the economy today, it is often considered a controversial business. Insignificant income, low efficiency, negative public perceptions, low job satisfaction and high turnover among members are among the fundamental criticisms of this type of marketing. But the very important contradiction is that the existence of all these problems did not reduce the enthusiasm of the members and also did not reduce the growth of these organizations in terms of sales or membership. Some critics, especially psychologists, believe that this contradiction can be explained by "mind control" or "brainwashing" operations. But the point of view of economic sociology is very different. Economic sociology seeks to explain the social mechanisms of this type of economic action beyond psychological processes. Therefore, in this article, which is an exploratory study to explain the nature of network marketing in the paradigm of new economic sociology; embeddedness, the structure of the network of relationships and the characteristics of the economic actions of people have been explained. The findings of this article show that the pyramidal structure of this type of marketing is divided into three levels and the economic actions are different at each level. This pyramidal structure prevents the emergence of structural gaps and obtaining information for exit. Therefore, the longevity of members is necessarily based on something beyond mere economic utility.
ملخص الجهاز:
According to a report by the Direct Selling Association (2004), well-known network marketing groups, or multi-level marketing companies such as Amway 4, Avon 5, Herbalife, 6 Mary Kay Cosmetics 7, Tupperware 8, Vemma 9, Nu Skin 10, Usana 11, and Shaklee 12 are increasing worldwide and represent a growing industry (World Federation of Direct Selling Associations Report, 2016).
Also, Biggart (1989) used the principles of Weber’s sociology (1922, - 1923) to conduct an extensive study of network marketing and argues that social relationships in these organizations often have a greater impact on the actions of members than economic rationality.
Therefore, in this research, experiences and observations include; emotions, feelings, desires and aspirations, weekly meetings, educational and motivational seminars and conferences, personal notes, weekly programs, nightly reports, short and highlighted sentences of leaders in non-private gatherings related to a network marketing company for 4 years were recorded and the texts and notes obtained were used for categorization and theoretical concept development.
In fact, the hierarchical structure of network marketing and the control of information flow from the top prevent the proper circulation of information and economic action of members through this path.
Since the structure of network marketing is hierarchical and the relationships within the network are also based on hierarchies, individuals on the margins of the pyramid must go through specific hierarchies to reach the leaders, and key leaders also have contact with a limited number of members, and people at the bottom of the pyramid are not aware of the quality of these contacts.
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