Marketing multinível como modalidade de negócio, na percepção de estudantes de graduação da UFRN

Abstract

The growth of Multilevel Marketing (MLM), also known as Network Marketing, is notorious in Brazil. One of the categories with the greatest adherence to this is undergraduate students however, data on this market are scarce and there are still few studies in the literature that address the issue, with a perceived gap that directly interferes with the credibility of the sector. In view of this, the present work aimed to understand the understanding of UFRN university students in relation to Multilevel Marketing. For this, a literature review was carried out and later a descriptive research with an exploratory character, through an intentional non-probabilistic sample, formed by 696 people, using an instructed and protected treaty. The results show that, despite being on the rise, Multilevel Marketing is little known by the public studied and most of them do not know how to differentiate it from financial pyramids. The results also address the factors considered positive and negative from the perspective of the public studied and how their confidence and reception are influenced by these factors. In conclusion, it is possible to verify that the MLM can present itself as an alternative for people and organizations that wish to undertake in the Direct Selling model, having a considerable acceptance of the interviewees, thus showing a wide field of prospecting.