Viral Marketing: Misleading or Deceptive?

THIS article is concerned with the practice of 'viral marketing', a marketing technique whereby people are encouraged to pass on product information and recommendations to others. Our aim is to suggest that some forms ofviral marketing are inherently misleading or deceptive and thus contrary to section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and the equivalent State fair trading provisions. We begin by defining viral marketing and outlining some of the different forms that it may take, before examining the application of the misleading or deceptive conduct provisions to the practice.