Affiliate marketing ethics

[LinkGenius]

Since I'm fairly new this forum I would like to get to know you better by discussing the ethics of affiliate marketing.

I'm curious to know how you navigate the fine line between maximizing commissions and ensuring customer satisfaction. Do you ever find yourself letting potential commissions slip because you anticipate that customers might be unhappy with their purchase? Or do you believe that as long as something is within the bounds of the law, it's fair game and people are responsible for their own choices?

Personally, I like to create websites that will provide high quality unbiased information to my visitors. Furthermore, I openly disclose affiliate links, emphasizing that they contribute to enhancing the content. I hope this will create a user base that continuously engages with the content and utilizes the provided links. This long term strategy suits me best because I find it relatively easy/enjoyable to create websites/products instead of attracting visitors/users to use them. Guess I'm not a born marketeer

But I can image that other people or people with a different skillset make different choices. Also, some products are one time purchase so the benefit of building a relation might not be as important. In practice, I see plenty of examples where false promises are made, in order to persuade visitors to click. For example, I find it much harder to generate a income using affiliate marketing than some people tried to make me believe when I first explored the topic.

So, what is important to you? An affiliate marketeer promotes products to make money by definition, but what other aspects influence your choices. Are there certain product groups you deliberately do not promote? Do you focus quick high gains or long term (lower) income. I'm curious what works for you.

 

[Graybeard]

I only offer products or services that deliver a fair value as promised.
I won't sell any products or services that are intentionally deceptive or harmful by design --that is subjective, I know.

In life you always don't get what you bargained for --that is the way it is.
However, ripping people off for chump change, especially people that can't afford it --only buys you bad karma and grief in the end.

Where do you draw the line? We are all hucksters to some degree.

Motto: Don’t Be Evil – Quote Investigator®

quoteinvestigator.com

Remember when Google dropped its ‘Don’t be evil’ motto?

I think we are all hypocrites to some degree and we are all victims to some degree also.

• I will not invest in tobacco companies even though they pay high dividends as they deal in addiction that can cause disease and death.
• I recently invested in RTX --the defense contractor that produces Patriot missiles and fighter jet engines.
• Is this hypocrisy or rationalization? --probably a bit of both.
• However the missiles deliver what they promise and;
  as long as nations engage in warfare they are needed.

 

[LinkGenius]

Thank you for your response! I didn't know the word Huckster, but it describes my prejudices about affiliate marketeers perfectly However, as you pointed out by saying to some degree, it is not all black and white. I'm sure large companies do exactly the same, only they hide it better.

Affiliate marketing made me think very personal about income, and how I want to earn money. Unlike working for a company, your actions and choices in affiliate marketing impact your income directly. Some things are restricted by law, some by advertisers, and then there are restrictions you put upon yourself because you think that is the right thing to do. Sometimes I think because of own restrictions, I put way to much effort into the content for relative low commission.

Thanks again for sharing some of the restrictions you have put upon yourself. I think they are always subjective and there is nothing wrong if they are contractionary sometimes, just as they often vary among individuals.