Examining Digital Piracy: Self-Control, Punishment, and Self-Efficacy

Digital piracy is a persistent and pervasive problem for society. Based on both the general theory of crime and deterrence theory, this study investigates the role of self-control, perceived severity of punishment and perceived certainty of punishment in predicting digital piracy behavior as well as self-efficacy. The results of the study show that risk-taking and punishment certainty are strong predictors of digital piracy behavior. Self-efficacy is also significantly related to punishment certainty and digital piracy behavior. Implications of the study for research and practice are discussed.

[1]  J. Chiou,et al.  The Antecedents of Music Piracy Attitudes and Intentions , 2005 .

[2]  E. K. Lau.  An Empirical Study of Software Piracy , 2003 .

[3]  Harold G. Grasmick,et al.  Testing the Core Empirical Implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi's General Theory of Crime , 1993 .

[4]  George E. Higgins.  can low self-control help with the understanding of the software piracy problem? , 2004 .

[5]  A. Bandura.  Health promotion from the perspective of social cognitive theory , 1998 .

[6]  Ranjan B. Kini,et al.  An exploratory study of moral intensity regarding software piracy of students in Thailand , 2003, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[7]  Sudip Bhattacharjee,et al.  Digital music and online sharing: software piracy 2.0? , 2003, CACM.

[8]  J. Gibbs.  Crime, punishment, and deterrence , 1975 .

[9]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Effective IS Security: An Empirical Study , 1990, Inf. Syst. Res..

[10]  Stan J. Liebowitz,et al.  Economists Examine File-Sharing and Music Sales , 2005 .

[11]  Robert LaRose,et al.  Sharing or Piracy? An Exploration of Downloading Behavior , 2005, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[12]  Shujen Wang,et al.  Recontextualizing Copyright: Piracy, Hollywood, the State, and Globalization , 2003 .

[13]  David A. Makin,et al.  Does Social Learning Theory Condition the Effects of Low Self-Control on College Students' Software Piracy? , 2004 .

[14]  Scott H. Decker,et al.  Certainty, Severity, and the Probability of Crime: A Logistic Analysis , 1990 .

[15]  Michael R. Gottfredson,et al.  A general theory of crime. , 1992 .

[16]  Martha M. Eining,et al.  Software Piracy among Accounting Students: A Longitudinal Comparison of Changes and Sensitivity , 2006, J. Inf. Syst..

[17]  Byeng-Hee Chang,et al.  Exploring Influential Factors on Music Piracy Across Countries , 2006 .

[18]  Marilyn E. Gist,et al.  Self-Efficacy: A Theoretical Analysis of Its Determinants and Malleability , 1992 .

[19]  Ruth X. Liu.  The Moderating Effects of Internal and Perceived External Sanction Threats on the Relationship between Deviant Peer Associations and Criminal Offending , 2003 .

[20]  Adams Js.  Towards an understanding of inequity , 1963 .

[21]  Dennis F. Galletta,et al.  Software Piracy in the Workplace: A Model and Empirical Test , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[22]  Kallol Kumar Bagchi,et al.  Global software piracy , 2006, Commun. ACM.

[23]  Roger A. Coldwell.  Viewpoint: did Chuck Babbage predict software piracy? , 1998, CACM.

[24]  Timothy Paul Cronan,et al.  Piracy, computer crime, and IS misuse at the university , 2006, Commun. ACM.

[25]  Marianne Junger,et al.  An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance , 2001 .

[26]  Shivendu Shivendu,et al.  Economic Implications of Variable Technology Standards for Movie Piracy in a Global Context , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[27]  Alan Tse,et al.  The Effects of Attitudinal and Demographic Factors on Intention to Buy Pirated CDs: The Case of Chinese Consumers , 2003 .

[28]  Houston H. Carr,et al.  Threats to Information Systems: Today's Reality, Yesterday's Understanding , 1992, MIS Q..

[29]  Wallace A. Wood,et al.  Situational determinants of software piracy: An equity theory perspective , 1996 .

[30]  Trevor T. Moores,et al.  Ethical Decision Making in Software Piracy: Initial Development and a Test of a Four-Component Model , 2006, MIS Q..

[31]  T. P. Cronan,et al.  Digital Piracy: Factors that Influence Attitude Toward Behavior , 2006 .

[32]  Ram D. Gopal,et al.  International Software Piracy: Analysis of Key Issues and Impacts , 1998, Inf. Syst. Res..

[33]  Sudip Bhattacharjee,et al.  A Behavioral Model of Digital Music Piracy , 2004, J. Organ. Comput. Electron. Commer..

[34]  D. Terry,et al.  The theory of planned behaviour: the effects of perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy. , 1995, The British journal of social psychology.

[35]  A. d’Astous,et al.  Music Piracy on the Web – How Effective are Anti-Piracy Arguments? Evidence from the Theory of Planned Behaviour , 2005 .

[36]  Jih-Hsin Tang,et al.  The Effect of Interpersonal Influence on Softlifting Intention and Behaviour , 2005 .

[37]  L. Cronbach.  Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests , 1951 .

[38]  T. Pratt,et al.  THE EMPIRICAL STATUS OF GOTTFREDSON AND HIRSCHI'S GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME: A META‐ANALYSIS , 2000 .

[39]  Wynne W. Chin,et al.  Factors motivating software piracy: a longitudinal study , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[40]  Harold G. Grasmick,et al.  The Deterrent Effect of Perceived Severity of Punishment , 1980 .

[41]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Coping With Systems Risk: Security Planning Models for Management Decision Making , 1998, MIS Q..

[42]  Hsing Kenneth Cheng,et al.  Toward a profile of student software piraters , 1996 .

[43]  Charles R. Tittle,et al.  Gender, Age, and Crime/Deviance: A Challenge to Self-Control Theory , 2003 .

[44]  Chee-Sing Yap,et al.  Testing an Ethical Decision-Making Theory: The Case of Softlifting , 1998, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[45]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[46]  Jon Lewis.  "If You Can't Protect What You Own, You Don't Own Anything": Piracy, Privacy, and Public Relations in 21st Century Hollywood , 2007 .

[47]  Peter R. Dickson,et al.  How Believing in Ourselves Increases Risk Taking: Perceived Self‐Efficacy and Opportunity Recognition , 1994 .