“Word of Mouth Marketing Isn’t Deception”-Andy Sernovitz

So looking at the reading from Andy Sernovitz’s book Word of Mouth Marketing I found an interesting section called, Word of Mouth Marketing isn’t Deception. This passage below is taken from page 24:

“listen closely: deception, infiltration, dishonesty, and any attempt to manipulate consumers or the conversation are morally bankrupt practices. Plus they just don’t work in the long run. Honest marketers do not do this and will not do this. Dishonest marketers will get caught if they try. Sleazy behavior will be exposed by the public, who will turn on anyone who attempts it. Word of mouth marketing is not what is known as stealth marketing lying to people or shilling (a marketer pretending to be a regular customer to promote a product). It’s not going into chat rooms with fake identities. It’s not posting fake positive reviews on websites. It’s not sending employees out to bars disguised as eager fans…The power of the consumer voice will make dishonest companies pay a steep price.”

So considering all of this, it seems pretty annoying that there are companies and individuals out there that will both bribe and be bribed to engage in this dishonest marketing tactic. These strategies obviously do not promote the virtuous side of advertising. So as a result do you think there need to be tighter restrictions on Word of Mouth Marketing? Is this even possible? And what should the repercussions be for those who defy the high standards of advertising? (I bolded the last sentence of the passage because I wondered if perhaps this is a far greater punishment than any federation or law could have on an advertisers poor choice. Thanks for reading!