Sailing in the same ship? Differences in factors motivating piracy of music and movie content

Abstract

This study presents indicative evidence on the impact of a range of consumer attitudes and characteristics upon the consumption of pirated music and movie files. Consumers of both types of content are analyzed using a survey sample consisting of over 6,100 observations. The study finds that demographic factors and attitudes towards downloaded content have the greatest influence on the consumption of pirated material, while awareness of legality and the threat of punishment affect consumption to a lesser extent. The findings of this study also suggest several conspicuous contrasts in the consumption of illegally downloaded music and movie files. Prolific music downloaders typically demonstrate a greater propensity to substitute legal content for pirated materials, while heavy movie downloaders demonstrate a greater willingness to pay for legal alternatives and are deterred to a greater extent by an awareness of negative effects of piracy upon the movie industry.

The social and applied psychology of engagement in music piracy

“…Much research finds the importance of accessing content for free (see e.g. Cox & Collins, 2014). Related findings demonstrate other so-called utilitarian motives including convenience (Argan et al, 2013;Kinnally et al, 2008;Schwarz & Larssson, 2013;Wang & McClung, 2011).…”

“…Such findings provide insight into the different decision-making processes of males and females, and why females may be more likely to pay for music. Elsewhere, tech savviness has been found to be predictive of engagement in piracy (Shanahan & Hyman, 2010), with young males known to engage with new technologies out of interest more than do females (Cox & Collins, 2014). Dated research finds that women viewed men as more able to understand the Internet, with females holding more negative attitudes towards computers and the Internet (Wasserman & Richmond-Abbott, 2005).…”

“…Sang et al (2015) found that engagement in music piracy is predicted by utilitarian motives relating to cost and availability. Other studies considering music piracy, and digital music more broadly, identify gratifications including convenience (Argan et al, 2013;Schwarz & Larsson, 2013;Wang & McClung, 2011) and collection utility (Sheehan et al, 2012), as well as the ability to sample new content ahead of release (Cox & Collins, 2014). Sheehan, Tsao and Yang (2010) also found that social utility (ability to increase social connections and peer interaction) was the most important reason for engaging in music piracy, followed by collection utility and economic utility; that is, financial motives were not as important as the ability to share songs with friends, seeing what they have in their collection, and the sheer volume of music available via illegal services, corroborated by Schwarz and Larsson (2013).…”

Explaining Young People’s Involvement in Online Piracy: An Empirical Assessment Using the Offending Crime and Justice Survey in England and Wales

“…These have generally emphasized the importance of age and social status (Allen, Forrest, Levi, Roy & Sutton, 2005;Cox & Collins, 2014;Motion Pictures Association, 2005). Other researchers have focused attention on explaining involvement in online piracy, drawing on well-established criminological theories including social learning (Burruss, Bossler & Holt, 2013;Hinduja & Ingram, 2009) and neutralization techniques (Higgins, 2004;Higgins & Wilson, 2006;Ingram & Hinduja, 2008).…”

“…A number of studies have found that young people are the most likely perpetrators of online piracy offences (Allen et al, 2005;Cox & Collins, 2014;Motion Pictures Association, 2005;Smith, Grabosky & Urbas, 2004;Yar, 2013b). This may be explained by young people having greater levels of leisure time to engage in internet use, having a higher demand for consumption of online media, as well as a greater propensity to engage in general offending behavior during the period of adolescence and early adulthood (Farrington, 2007).…”