Herbig, Paul 1997,; Rama Yelkurm "A Review of the Multilevel Marketing Phenomenon" Journal of Marketing Channels, 1540-7039, 6:1 Pgs 17–33
Nat, PJ Vander ; WW Keep (2002) - "Marketing fraud: An approach for differentiating multilevel marketing from pyramid schemes" Journal of Public Policy & Marketing pg 139-151
Cahn, PS (2008) "CONSUMING CLASS: Multilevel Marketers in Neoliberal Mexico" Cultural Anthropology, 23:3, Pages 429-452 (This I have read an even though I am an anthropologist I'm not sure of his point in it.)
Muncy, JA (2004) "Ethical Issues in Multilevel Marketing: Is it a Legitimate Business OR Just Another Pyramid Scheme?" Marketing Education Review
Sparks, John R. (2001) 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, 22:8 pp. 849-869
Micklitz, HW; B Monazzahian, C RÖßLER (1999) "Door-to-door selling—pyramid selling—multilevel marketing" Study commissioned by the CEC.
"The Failure rate with multilevel marketing is very high" Michie, Justin "Street Smart Internet Marketing"
"What’s more frightening is if your network marketing opportunity fails (and over 90% of them do), this “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity may haunt you for a lifetime, as friends, family, co-workers, remind you that your big dream turned out to be nothing." Harris, Cathy (2006) "Multilevel Marketing aka “Pyramid Schemes” – Good or Bad?"
Higgs, Philip and Jane Smith (2007) Rethinking Our World Juta Academic
Schmidt, Andreas U. (2006)"Multi-level markets and incentives for information goods" Information Economics and Policy Volume 18, Issue 2, June 2006, Pages 125-138
Business students focus on ethics By Leo V. Ryan, Wojciech Gasparski, Georges Enderle has an article by Angela Xu of the China Europe International Business School goes over the problems with MLMs (including a lack of a good definition) and states "For this reason, the MLM is also called Pyramid Sales" showing even more problems with separating MLM from pyramid selling.
This fragment I found is interesting: "Multi-level marketing is a pyramid scheme in reverse. An operator will sell large quantities of something to the target and they are expected to sell these on to their friends at a mark-up." Ahmed, Tanzila; Charles Oppenheim (2006) "Experiments to identify the causes of spam" Aslib Proceeding 58:3 Page:156 - 178
Gummessonm, Evert (1994) "Making Relationship Marketing Operational" International Journal of Service Industry Management 5:5 pg 5-20;
Vander Nat, Peter J. and William W. Keep (2002) "Marketing Fraud: An Approach for Differentiating Multilevel Marketing from Pyramid Schemes" Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 21:1 pg 139-151 and
Bloch, Brian (1996) "Multilevel marketing: what's the catch?" Journal of Consumer Marketing 13:4 pp. 18-26 all identify network marketing as another name for MLM.
Bhattacharya, Patralekha and Krishna Kumar Mehta (2000) "Socialization in network marketing organizations: is it cult behavior?" Journal of Socio-Economics, Volume 29, Issue 4, Pages 361-374
Pratt, Michael G. nd José Antonio (Rosa 2003) "Transforming work-family conflict into commitment in network marketing organizations" The Academy of Management Journal Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 395-418
Vander (2002) "Marketing Fraud: An Approach for Differentiating Multilevel Marketing from Pyramid Schemes" Journal of Public Policy & Marketing Volume: 21 Issue: 1 139-151
Merrilees (1999) "Direct Selling in the West and East: The Relative Roles of Product and Relationship (Guanxi) Drivers" Journal of Business Research Volume 45, Issue 3, Pages 267-273
Cahn, Peter S. (2006) "Building down and Dreaming up: Finding Faith in a Mexican Multilevel Marketer" American Ethnologist Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 126-142
Marcason, Wendy (2006) "What Are the Facts and Myths about Mangosteen?" Journal of the American Dietetic Association Volume 106, Issue 6, Page 986
THOMAS R. WOTRUBA, STEWART BRODIE & JOHN STANWORTH (2005), Differences in Turnover Predictors between Multilevel and Single Level Direct Selling Organizations, Int. Rev. of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Vol. 15, No. 1, 91–110, January 2005
Koehn, Daryl, Ethical Issues Connected with Multi-Level Marketing Schemes, Journal of Business Ethics 29: 153–160, 2001
seems to be an opinion piece
Xu, Angela & Tian Julia. Ethical Issues in Multi-level Marketing. Business Students Focus on Ethics, pp73-84
Ming Ouyang and E Stephen Grant (2004), Mechanism of Network Marketing Organizations Expansion as Pyramid Structures. Journal of Management Research, Volume 4, Number 3, 2004
Despite the title, this paper seems to be analysing pyramids, not MLM. They seem completely unaware that MLMs are not "endless chain".
Msweli-Mbanga, P. Modelling distributor performane in Network Marketing, South African Journal of Business Management, 2001 32(3)
Stockstill, Lowell E. MULTILEVEL FRANCHISE OR PYRAMID SCHEME?, Journal of Small Business Management, October 1985
Croft, Robin and Woodruffe, Helen (1996) Network Marketing: The Ultimate in International Distribution?, Journal of Marketing Management, 1996, 12, 201-214
Robert A. Peterson and Gerald Albaum (2007) ON THE ETHICALITY OF INTERNAL CONSUMPTION IN MULTILEVEL MARKETING. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. XXVII, no. 4 (fall 2007), pp. 317–323.
Walter J. Carl, Ph.D. (2002) Organizational Legitimacy As Discursive Accomplishment in Multilevel Marketing Discourse. A paper presented at the Organizational Communication Division of the National Communication Association annual conference, New Orleans, LA, November 21-24, 2002.
Robin Croft, Lindsay Cutts, and Patricia Mould Shifting the Risk: "Buyback" Protection in Network Marketing Schemes (2000). Journal of Consumer Policy 23: 177-191, 2000.
John R. Sparks and Joseph A. Schenk SOCIALIZATION COMMUNICATION, ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS, AND SALES IN A MULTILEVEL MARKETING ORGANIZATION Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. XXVI, no. 2 (spring 2006), pp. 161–180.
Pratt, Michael G. (2000) The Good, the Bad, and the Ambivalent; Managing Identification among Amway Distributors. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45 (2000): 456-493
Roderick J. Brodie, Nicole E. Coviello, Richard W. Brookes and Victoria Little (1997). Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing? An Examination of Current Marketing Practices. Joumal of Marketing Management, 1997, 13, 383-406
Nicole E. Coviello, Roderick J. Brodie, Hugh J. Munro. (1997) Understanding Contemporary Marketing: Development of a Classification Scheme. Journal of Marketing Management, 1997, 13, 501-522
Cecilia Ong See Kiaw and Ernest Cyril de Run (2007) Why Malaysians Join and Stay on in a Multi-Level Marketing Company. The Icfai Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. V, No. 4, 2007
Public perceptions of direct selling: an international perspective.Brodie, Stewart and Albaum, Gerald and Chen, Der-Fa Robert and Garcia, Leonardo and Kennedy, Rowan and Msweli-Mbanga, Pumela and Oksanen-Ylikoski, Elina and Wotruba, Thomas R. (2004) Public perceptions of direct selling: an international perspective. University of Westminster Press, London, UK. ISBN 0953984559
