MLM and Product Psychology

Today's blog post is about the excitement MLMers exhibit when it comes to their products. It is important to note, most MLM products are not unique, do not have any quantifiable research to support their claims, and can be found in retail outlets for a fraction of the price. Yet, MLMers treat their products as revolutionary and their enthusiasm can be comparable to the first iPhone launch. Some of the most common MLM products include, vitamins and supplements, makeup, water filtration units, dietary shakes, vacation packages, car assistance packages, cryptocurrencies, and life insurance. The two most important parts about MLM products, and why they choose these particular areas of the marketplace are, they are unregulated markets and they are highly subjective. MLMs choose to focus on these two markets because their rules are the most vague, and they can say unusually non-credible statements without getting into the same amount of trouble as others.

This leads to MLM's number one problem, getting people to care about their product or service. MLMers use psychological techniques to enhance excitement about their product or service, and the techniques fall into two main categories: individual and group. It is important that they use both styles of techniques, because we are biologically wired to be recognized as an individual and be part of a bigger group. Also by using the following techniques, it significantly disarms consumers from making rational decisions. Some individual techniques MLMers use are, smiles, light contact (hand shakes, hugs, shoulder touching), story sharing, and attentiveness. This helps feed into a consumer's ego and makes them feel important.  Some of the group techniques MLMers use are, forming "team" meetings at houses, and holding conferences at churches and stadiums. By showing people that they aren't alone, and by introducing high-levels of enthusiasm at meetings (large levels of applause for speakers, music, lights), it creates confidence that the "business opportunity" is real. Note, these techniques have nothing to do with learning about a "business opportunity" and are predominately used to sell something. These techniques do not make a person authentic and are often used as a means to an end.

MLMers create a false euphoria around their products and services, because they know very few people want the "opportunity" to go to family, friends, and strangers about soap, water filtration systems, dietary shakes, and makeup. By transforming the "J-O-B" into a dream making, unlimited potential, independent, "opportunity", it makes an extremely undesirable MLM into the choice of a lifetime. 

MLM and Echo Chambers

Today's blog post is about the echo chambers in MLMs and how they fuel the core principles and beliefs held by fanatical MLMers. These echo chambers are designed to reinforce thought-stopping jargon created by MLM leaders for the sole purpose of retaining membership. Echo chambers strive to silence dissenting opinions while creating a euphoria for their "businesses". Echo chambers are one of the strongest foundations of MLM, and they continue to perpetuate cognitive dissonance for the MLM members. This cognitive dissonance refers to the inability to reconcile the damage people are doing to themselves and others under the guise of helping others to achieve wealth and happiness.

Echo chambers can be regularly found in a multitude of categories. In recent news, James Damore, a former Google senior software engineer, wrote about the ideological echo chamber created in the Google work environment involving the sexes. We have echo chambers at American universities, in which opposing viewpoints to the left's agenda have been met with protests and violence. We have echo chambers in the American main stream media, in which certain media outlets choose to report on the issues they feel are important. And most importantly, with the proliferation of the internet, we have created our own echo chambers and surrounded ourselves with the information we want supported by the people we like. We have created a world which has become polarized, and we have strayed very far from the original principles of healthy dialogue.

These echo chambers impede progress and the ability to think freely. It is important to listen to people with opposing viewpoints, understand why they have those viewpoints, and then proceed to engage in dialogue. If a person cannot remove themselves from their echo chamber, then they can become victims of control. The development of this control over our thoughts and feelings is seamless and can happen very quickly. The echo chamber allows a person or group to dictate all information their followers receive, and can create a potentially damaging situation without the followers realizing they are being controlled. This also creates an inherent laziness to try and understand why a person is giving certain information, which gives more power to the leaders because the followers will not question anything.

Echo chambers are MLM leader's most powerful weapons. By creating an environment in which unquestioning obedience is mandatory, they can say and do anything without consequence. I previously attended a MLM seminar, called "Freedom Enterprise Days", in which only MLM members and recruits were allowed, and each MLM leader came out on stage with the same message. This seminar did not have a question and answer portion and the MLM leaders did not engage with the potential recruits. Instead, they showed a video that was carefully choreographed, followed by a story or monologue, and ended with thunderous applause. Each leader that approached the stage had nearly identical formulas, and they repeated this process for two and a half days. There was no ability to fact check their statistics, there was no proof their stories were truthful or relevant, and yet people listened to them with undying faith. This lack of skepticism is extremely dangerous, and it costs people billions of dollars annually.

Arguably the greatest gifts people have are free will and free thought, yet people instinctively give up these gifts regularly in the pursuit of satisfying their needs. Confidence people understand how to control others by taking the former assets away. They offer love, security, answers, and anything else a person may need due to vulnerability. It is up to each individual to be accountable for their actions. The ability to ask why, as Socrates did, is our greatest weapon to protect ourselves from intellectual predators.