By Anna Lariviere
Through the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program, I had the great pleasure and honor to work alongside Dr. Harmony Reppond, an Associate Professor of Psychology. This experience was deeply important to me in more ways than one. For starters, the SURE program provided me with my first experience in research. Initially I was seeking out research opportunities solely so I could put the experience on a resume or CV and look better on paper when it was time to apply to grad school. However, as I participated in the SURE program, I learned that research is not only something I mildly enjoyed but something I can see myself doing as a career. On top of it opening up a whole new world to me, it also provided me with my first formal mentor relationship. I had previously never truly understood the mentor-mentee relationship and why it was viewed as crucial. However, after going through the SURE program, I understand why they are encouraged.
Having Dr. Reppond as my mentor has truly made an impact on my education and my time as a student. Not only were we collaborators on a research project, but she has also been my guide as I look towards my future in the field of psychology. Below I have included the abstract for our project titled “Bait and Switch of the American Dream: Persuasion Tactics of MLMs”. We are continuing work on this project now that the SURE program is over, and we are going to be working on a new poster that we plan to submit to present at the Midwestern Psychological Association conference in April.
“The American Dream promotes the belief that hard work leads to financial success, often embodied in capitalist ventures. Multilevel marketing (MLM) companies capitalize on this ideology, promising high earnings, flexible work, and the opportunity to be one’s own boss. Individuals invest in MLMs with hopes of selling products at a profit, yet the reality often diverges from these aspirations. Despite the global market share of MLMs reaching $180 billion, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that 99% of participants fail to recoup their initial investment (Taylor, 2011). After interviewing 52 former sellers about the causes and consequences of participating in multi-level marketing, based on qualitative interview data, we developed an inductive codebook to identify trends in participant experiences. Based on consensus coding from 78% of the sample, we also identified 20 codes related to persuasion, with authority and information messaging emerging as the most significant. Three major themes and nine sub-themes emerged. Our conference poster highlights how authority figures, such as upline members or company leaders, influence participants’ decisions through directives, persistence, and tailored recruitment strategies.”
