Licensing
Part of Sourcing genuine customer contributions
Checking whether an incentivised contribution needs disclosure
Identify a customer-content incentive, assess the actual placement and make the relevant relationship clear to readers.
Use this check before inviting a contribution and again whenever the brand publishes, republishes or uses it in an ad. If a benefit was offered in return for a review or promotional post, the practical answer is yes: make that relationship clear in the content’s presentation and recheck each placement. A genuine opinion can still be incentivised.
Steps to assess disclosure for incentivised customer content
- Identify what was offered
- Assess the actual placement
- Preserve the account
- Recheck every reuse
Identify what was offered
Record the benefit, when it was offered and what the customer had to do to receive it. Gifts, reward points, discount vouchers and competition entry can all be review incentives. Check whether the benefit is conditional on a contribution, and whether it rewards any review or only praise.
Ask these questions before making the offer. Use the answers to decide whether the benefit is tied to the contribution.
- Was a benefit offered for writing, filming or posting this contribution?
- Was the benefit conditional on a favourable rating or message?
- Did the invitation suggest a particular answer, even if its terms allowed criticism?
- Where will the contribution appear, and has its commercial context changed since creation?
Do not offer a reward for praise: change that offer before sending the invitation and ask for an honest account. The ACCC provides general guidance to businesses on online-review responsibilities and can investigate if a business misleads people in relation to online reviews.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, businesses must not mislead or deceive consumers. The ACCC says this applies to influencers engaging in trade or commerce and to brands and marketers using influencers to advertise online.
For review responsibilities, the ACCC’s Online reviews for product and services page gives businesses general guidance. For promotional posts and social advertising, see Social media promotions.
Checklist: Disclosing incentivised contributions
- Was a benefit offered for writing, filming or posting this contribution?
- Was the benefit conditional on a favourable rating or message?
- Did the invitation suggest a particular answer, even if criticism was allowed?
- Has the commercial context of the post changed since creation?
Assess the actual placement
| Situation | Publication check |
|---|---|
| Review with no benefit for contributing | Check whether another relevant relationship would make it misleading to present the review as independent. |
| Benefit offered for a review | Consider whether the review's presentation could mislead readers given the incentive. |
| Promotional post about a gifted product | Assess whether the gift and promotional relationship are clear in the post. |
| Customer post later reused in a brand ad | Check whether the ad’s presentation obscures the original incentive or a later payment. |
For a benefit expressly offered in return for a review or promotional post, answer yes: disclose the benefit and relationship at each placement. Recheck reposts and ads rather than assuming an earlier disclosure carries over. A gift not tied to a request is not automatically a review incentive; assess the post and relationship viewers actually see.
These situations do not prescribe one label for every arrangement. A customer might buy a product, write an unpaid post and later receive a fee for brand reuse; record the original account and the later deal separately.
A product gifted without a request for a review is not automatically a reward for reviewing. Assess the post and relationship actually presented to viewers, and disclose where needed to avoid a misleading presentation.
An incentivised review should be assessed for whether its presentation could mislead readers. For a promotional social post, assess whether its presentation could be false or misleading.
The ACCC can investigate and may take compliance or enforcement action if a business makes false or misleading claims in social media advertising. It can also require businesses to back up claims they make on social media, and a customer post must still be assessed in its own context.
At each placement, identify the benefit or relationship in plain wording in the post or ad itself. Make the disclosure clear and hard to miss; vague shorthand such as ‘sp’ or ‘spon’, or formatting that hides it, may leave readers unclear.
Incentivised vs. non-incentivised content: disclosure requirements
- Situation
- Disclosure required?
- Situation
- Disclosure required?
- Situation
- Disclosure required?
- Situation
- Disclosure required?
ACCC enforcement actions on misleading online reviews
- Under Australian Consumer Law
- ACCC can investigate
- Requirement to back up claims
- Penalties include
Preserve the account
Disclosure does not fix an inaccurate or distorted review. Do not supply a favourable rating, remove a material criticism or cut a mixed account into unqualified praise. Check any broader product claim the brand adds in its caption or ad against what the customer actually experienced and what the brand can support.
Keep the invitation, benefit terms, customer response, disclosure and final version together. Recheck a repost, crop or ad: a disclosure visible beside the original review may disappear in a new placement.
