Case Name :      Carolina Pad and the Bloggers

Authors :           Steven Cox, Bradley W Brooks, S. Cathy Anderson, J. Norris Frederick

Source :             North American Case Research Association (NACRA)

Case ID :            NA0133

Discipline :        Entrepreneurship

Case Length :    15 pages

Solution sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

Carolina Pad had received several requests for cash payments from internet bloggers in exchange for product reviews. The requests were for relatively small amounts (none more than $1000). The company believed that paying the bloggers’ would offer a significantly higher rate of return on their promotional dollars than traditional advertising or other forms of promotion. Like many other companies, Carolina Pad provided review products to bloggers, but questioned whether cash payments were somehow different. The case examines the ethics of making cash and in-kind payments to bloggers for product reviews. The case also examines the question of whether bloggers are journalists and should adhere to the same journalist standards as news reporters or simply writers of internet infomercials.