Ethical Dilemmas in Consumer Sponsorship Requests

April Whitlock should not accept any of the bloggers requests for sponsorship. By accepting these requests, she is essentially taking bribes from consumers for positive reviews of Carolina Pad. This is unethical because word-of-mouth advertising although very effective can negatively impact a company’s reputation if done incorrectly. April is facing the idea of a decision because she is uncertain if this is the right choice. This uncertainty is a signal that it is unethical and can cause some repercussions in the future. Ethics are subjective and if April is facing this hesitation, moving forward with the requests can be a line of ethics she wishes not to cross. Crossing this ethical line for some companies is no big deal and will not even think twice, especially if other competitors are doing the same thing. Business leaders need to ensure that they know where their ethics line lay and until what extend this line get blurry. With ethics each individual takes individual responsibility and actions speaks louder than words.

Carolina Pad has a competitive advantage within their target market and have not had any problems maintaining their presence in the school supplies industry. There is no need for Carolina Pad to engage in this behavior if they have had great publicity and get advertising for free from other consumers. Advertising online is their main form of marketing and although it is cheaper there are other ways that adverting can be completed online, such as through Twitter and Instagram give-a-ways. These give-a-ways are an excellent way to market online for a lower competitive price, but also not run into the possibility of crossing any ethics lines. There are also other options that April is not considering and should consider before potentially participating in a behavior that she is not comfortable