How the MLM Targets Women

A few months ago, I was approached at my retail job by a middle-aged yoga teacher. Declaring that I was the best salesperson with whom she’d ever interacted, she gave me her business card, and instructed me to call her if I want to make “a little extra cash.” She said she works for a renowned skincare company, and thought I would make a great addition to their team. When I met with her in person, I learned that this skincare company was the multi-level marketing company (hereafter MLM) Rodan & Fields, and expressed my disinterest in participation. This woman was unable to accept a simple no, and took to tactics of emotional manipulation — telling me that this MLM was a sure-fire way to avoid going into post-undergraduate debt, for example. After this unpleasant interaction, I became fascinated by MLMs. I joined two different closed Facebook groups, each intended as platforms for connection between sales consultants and potential consumers of the MLMs Young Living Essential Oils and the haircare-centric Monat. I noticed that almost every member in these groups are women, and most of them middle-aged mothers.

The very structure of the MLM draws in these busy women with promises of wealth and power, a promise that is not insignificant in a word that abandons and ignores mothers so frequently. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of embodied capital and Loïc Wacquant’s elaboration on Bourdieu’s theory, this paper examines the inner workings of the two MLMs listed above and deciphers what makes them attractive to their demographic. Though there are many similarities and differences between the MLMs, the one unchanging aspect was the ideological homogeneity between all consultants and consumers present.

The dynamic inside these closed Facebook groups is unanimous — differences are unwelcome, as they cause disturbance as they may interfere with the consultants’ profits. In the Young Living group, toward the end of my observation period, I came across a post (by a non-consultant) requesting recommendations and opinions regarding which EO would be best to apply to her pet dog’s already irritated skin. Most EOs are outright toxic to small mammals, especially Tea Tree and similar varieties (Burke). They can cause seizures, can interrupt heart and brain processes, and in general cause issues that frequently result in the death of the animal (Burke). The majority of the comments on this Facebook post were individuals peddling their specific oils — a comment would recommend a few oils, and provide a direct link to that individual’s online store, where the original poster could purchase an oil, or more preferably a bundle, at their convenience. The war between commenters was intense; even though the recommendations were similar between them, they all provided their own links, all tried to make themselves seem more reliable than others, even though they were all selling the same exact product. Unable to deal with the emotional stress of thinking of a possibly injured or even killed animal, I broke my only rule for my research relevant to this paper: I commented.

I wrote a single sentence, encouraging the original poster to do serious research into the safety of oils in regards to pets, because of the health problems detailed above. I was met with an outpouring of disgust from other commenters — people calling me slurs, saying that I’m fear mongering for sadistic pleasure, and my comment was based on no scientific basis. I did not engage with these comments, but while reading through them I found behind these hateful comments were desperate women, all ready to tear a stranger apart at the slightest suggestion for investigation beyond blind faithful belief. The threat of a single potential sale’s loss terrified them, for they believed my short (admittedly terse) comment held potential to inspire some sort of introspection within the original poster, as someone who otherwise would have been seduced into buying a product.

I gathered from this particular interaction that these women are dependent on their consumers’ ignorance — they cite vague and potentially nonexistent sources to solidify their already held beliefs, and any comment that even suggests an alternative route of thought is insubordinate and unacceptable. Even though I did not engage with these comments further, I was removed from the private group by an administrator. This was done without warning or reason; I simply received a notification that I would no longer be allowed to post within the group or view any past or future posts. At first, this decision confused me, as I genuinely believe my comment was innocent, if perhaps provocative. The fact that a mere suggestion for alternative thought is grounds for forced removal is illuminating of the overall dichotomy within Young Living, and reveals something integral to the success of MLMs more generally: docility and discipline.

In Michel Foucault’s theory of the docile body, he elaborates on the mechanisms of observation and control in punitary structures and analyzes how the same methods of control used in prisons have influenced day-to-day culture, forcing all individuals into docility. One of the most pervasive methods for control, Foucault explains, is normalized judgement. Normalizing judgement is the phenomena that occurs in hierarchical systems, where all members of the hierarchy are monitoring themselves and those below them, and are monitored by all above. These multi-levels of monitoring and observation inform each other, and form a sort of endless feedback loop of observation and monitoring. Foucault states, “for virtually any level of achievement, the scale shows that there is an even higher level possible. Further, norms define certain modes of behaviour as ‘abnormal,’ which puts them beyond the pale of what is socially (or even humanly) acceptable…” (Foucault 84). The intensity of the scale is necessary for understanding the functioning of the MLM, and my experience within the Young Living Facebook group illuminates exactly the severity of observation within the MLM communities, and the reality of punishment, too. Because I was banned from a group for a comment fewer than twenty words, now every member (whether consultant or consumer) who witnessed the interaction is aware of what happens to people in this group if they differ from the norm. The reality is, in this MLM, any difference from the norm of unequivocally loving essential oils and genuinely believing that they will heal illness and do no harm is forbidden.

Understanding how consultant-consumer relationships are maintained through docility and control, I stress that, as necessary to the functioning of the monitoring system, this feedback loop of control is done voluntarily (if subconsciously) by the members of the group. The reason consultants and consumers alike are so willing and quick to maintain and uphold these systems of control is because they find some form of identity or safety within the MLM. Most of the consultants for Young Living and Monat are middle-aged mothers. I believe the MLM provides a promise for security and financial gain that gives these middle-aged women some form of identity to which to cling, outside of their children and husbands. In this way, the MLM functions similarly to the boxing gym in Chicago described in Wacquant’s Body and Soul. Middle-aged women with growing children who have no career other than mothering feel required to seek validation outside of that identity. These women are shamed and hated by capitalist ideals for choosing to stay home, and thus not earning a wage, though mothers who choose to continue to work are also shamed. Thus, the MLM proposes a solution to an impossible question: flexible hours, the ability to work from home, and the promise of a community are all too seductive for this type of mother to ignore.

The MLM functions as a haven, where (as in the boxing gym) the consultant can adopt an entirely new persona, one completely separate from the monotony of everyday life — that of the Entrepreneur. The MLM consultant finds a community with their like-minded fellow consultants and loyal customers, outside of their home lives, without ever having to physically separate themselves from the home at all. Loïc Wacquant finds in Body and Soul that the boxing gym is a community of its own, these young men have their lives far away from the trauma and violence of the Chicago streets, specifically the rampant gang culture. More than just a physical “shield,” though, Wacquant notes about the interactions between the men in the Chicago boxing gym: “it is also the locus and support of what Georg Simmel calls ‘sociability,’ forms of social interaction devoid of significant purpose or endowed with socially anodyne contents, processes of pure sociation that are their own ends” (Wacquant 37). This is exactly the types of interactions that occur within MLM communities; the consultants form intimate groups of socialization based around sales and the products being touted, and nothing else.

John R. Sparks and Joseph A. Schenk have conducted a number of studies into the inner-workings and nature of various MLMs, and in their article “Socialization Communication, Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, and Sales in a Multilevel Marketing Organization,” they investigate specifically the social organization within MLMs. They explain, “… sponsors assume responsibility for socializing their recruits into the norms of MLM membership… through their sponsors, recruits learn to view their distributorships as part of a “cause” and to see the “higher purpose” in their work” (Sparks and Schenk, 162). This understanding of the motivations behind the consultants’ participation in the MLM is necessary; these women not only seek an occupation and therefore an identity separate from their motherhood, but importantly, these companies build themselves around the idea that they are genuinely helping their consumers, that the products they peddle will objectively improve the lives of potential consultants and consumers alike. With Young Living, the consultants believe that Essential Oils can cure emotional stresses such as anxiety or insomnia, and can at least aid with physical disturbances such as asthma or heartburn. With haircare MLM Monat, the consultants rightfully believe that a woman’s hair has a great deal to do with her confidence, and Monat consultants believe that confidence is the key to greater success in life.

In a separate article titled “Explaining the Effects of Transformational Leadership: An Investigation of the Effects of Higher-Order Motives in Multilevel Marketing Organizations,” Sparks and Schenk further investigate the norms at work in MLMs. They explain, “MLMs establish elaborate systems of support through which members receive guidance and leadership from each other” (Sparks and Schenk 851). The constant validation and interaction that occurs between consultants for MLMs is important to understand how the pyramid schemes continue to function. Inside the Monat Facebook groups, almost daily young consultants would vent, saying that no one in their friend group or family supports them, and they are finding it difficult to find sales. This is in part due to the fact that the most popular and effective manner to market one’s products as part of an MLM is through online marketing, most often Facebook. In “Are You My Friend?: Negotiating Friendship in Conversations between Network Marketers and Their Prospects” Kenneth C. C. Kong investigates the insidiousness of Facebook and other social-media centric marketing. He explains the reason this network-marketing structure works for the most highly-positioned members of each MLM, “”products are sold directly from manufacturers to customers, without involving wholesalers, distributors, and advertisers, which are usually large business enterprises; hence, promotional and distribution costs are purportedly kept to a minimum” (Kong 489). While distribution costs are kept low, profits are maximized for controlling individuals in the companies. For consultants, however, this is an unsustainable and inefficient marketing tactic, partly because the market is so flooded.

Once, a member of the Monat Facebook group said she felt disillusioned because of how difficult she was finding the recruitment process, and she indicated that she hopes to one day become part of the MMC, but that she was not sure she ever could get there. Within minutes, older consultants (and even this particular woman’s sponsor) commented, encouraging her to not give up on her sales, saying that everyone has trouble when they first start out, and that her dream is still within reach. She later commented in reply, thanking everyone for their warm wishes, saying that she feels better, and will continue to push the products which she believes in so deeply, because one day, she will get that Cadillac. At the heart of every MLM consultant’s involvement in the company is a desire for cultural capital. These women, usually middle-aged, stay-at-home-mothers have no way to attain what American society deems most important — high income. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital in part defines the phenomena as the ability to summate an individual’s objective worth based on their economic class. The embodiment of that capital comes in the ways that an individual can externally represent the class they occupy — for example, a woman with a Chanel handbag or Louboutin shoes is playing the role of a high-class, and therefore a respectable, powerful woman. Embodied capital is not just about the clothes one wears, but really all aspects of an individual’s life that denote a disposable income, for instance make and model of a car, size and location of a house, hairstyle and color, activates and hobbies partaken, and general appearance (such as a slim figure and youthful skin).

The consultants of these MLMs seek financial gain, so they can move upward in the class hierarchy, typically from the amorphous “comfortable” middle class, into the more extravagant, higher one. Many MLM recruitment campaigns share astronomical success stories as if guaranteed — Monat promises their consultants a new Cadillac after they reach a certain number of sales (the Monat Motor Club [MMC] features the tagline: “if you dare to succeed, Monat will help put you in the driver’s seat of your very own Cadillac.” The MMC is an entire culture based around the disposable incomes of the idealized Monat Consultant, a youthful woman with long, flowing, perfectly blown-out hair driving a shiny, new, very expensive car. The club promises inclusivity and community along with the obvious promise of wealth). The MLM is not only a foray into a higher standard of living, but a higher standard of life. The MLM promises its consultants will embody their growing capital to the nth degree. Arguing the lacking ethicality of these MLM companies, Koehn claims that transparency must be achieved, in a much more dramatic way than it currently is. He says, “to be ethical, a MLM needs to do more than merely claim that it has retail sales. It needs to monitor its sales by requiring the sales force to document sales to end-users,” meaning that the direct consultant-consumer relationship inherent to the MLM is also inherently faulty, and unethical.

In a society that simultaneously demeans and demonizes women who choose to stay home with their children as well as those who choose to continue to work outside the home, mothers frequently feel idle. In American capitalist society, these mothers believe that they can only obtain cultural capital, and therefore respectable social identity, through work. MLMs provide a type of work that is physically possible for women with children, as they are able to work from home.The social dynamics within MLMs are entirely, consistently supportive and encouraging, further solidifying the MLM as sacred and helpful in the mind of their women consultants. The products they sling are believed by all consultants to be genuinely important to the lives of the consumers, as they will in some way aid their lives. This belief is further fulfilling to the women consultants, as they believe they are in some way contributing to a grand, greater good. Unfortunately, though, these MLMs are not sustainable. The consistent pressure to recruit more and more consultants floods the market, and makes sales much harder, every time. These women seek a gain in cultural capital, and MLMs make them a promise that they cannot keep.

Works Cited

Bourdieu, Pierre. Physical Space, Social Space, and Habitus. University of Oslo, 1996, archives.library.illinois.edu/erec/University%20Archives/2401001/Production_website/pages/StewardingExcellence/Physical%20Space,%20Social%20Space%20and%20Habitus.pdf

Burke, Anna. “Are Essential Oils Safe for Dogs? There Are Quite a Few Risks Involved.” American Kennel Club, 3 Apr. 2018, www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/are-essential-oils-safe-for-dogs/.

Koehn, Daryl. “Ethical Issues Connected with Multi-Level Marketing Schemes.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 29, no. 1/2, 2001, pp. 153–160. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25074449.

Kong, Kenneth C. C. “‘Are You My Friend?”: Negotiating Friendship in Conversations between Network Marketers and Their Prospects.” Language in Society, vol. 32, no. 4, 2003, pp. 487–522. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4169284.

Sparks, John R., and Joseph A. Schenk. “Explaining the Effects of Transformational Leadership: An Investigation of the Effects of Higher-Order Motives in Multilevel Marketing Organizations.” Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 22, no. 8, 2001, pp. 849–869. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3649575.

Sparks, John R., and Joseph A. Schenk. “Socialization Communication, Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, and Sales in a Multilevel Marketing Organization.” The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, vol. 26, no. 2, 2006, pp. 161–180. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40472050

Wacquant, Loic. Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. Oxford University Press, 2006.