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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of parental and peer norms on idol worship as well as the effect of idol worship on the intention to purchase and obtain the idol’s music products legally and illegally.

A stratified, two-stage, cluster sampling procedure was applied to a list of high schools obtained from the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. A return rate of 80 per cent yielded 723 usable questionnaires, the data from which were analysed by the LISREL structural equation modelling software.

The results suggest that both social worship and personal worship have a significant and positive impact on the intention to purchase music. However, personal worship has a negative impact on the intention to pirate music while social worship appears to strengthen it.

The findings suggest that idol worship is more complex than previously understood. The constructs chosen in this research should be seen only as a snapshot but other variables such as vanity trait, autonomy, romanticism or involvement are not taken into account. Future studies would benefit from inclusion of these variables and a wider geographical scope.

The findings contain many implications to help marketing executives and planners better revise their existing marketing and communication strategies to increase their revenue.

Existing research has tended to examine the impact of idol worship as a whole on the reduction of music piracy, but overlook the two-dimensional aspects of idol worship, hence ignoring the fact that many music firms have not properly utilised idol worship to deal with the challenges associated with music piracy. The findings broaden existing understanding about the causes of two different dimensions of idol worship and their different impacts on the intention to music piracy.

This study aims to examine the role of product attributes, applying the multi‐attribute model, on consumers' decisions to download digital music via unauthorised sources in the UK.

The data were collected through an online survey. Consumer choice was measured through three sets of questions built on Likert scales to identify individuals' evaluation of importance placed on the eight attributes, when making a choice, and level of satisfaction with those, both for purchasing and downloading. Two logistic regression models are developed using background characteristics and responses to these three sets of questions. The consumer choice between purchasing digital music and downloading through unauthorised channels was analysed in regards to eight product‐specific attributes.

The results show that illegal downloaders expect a similar utility from both channels, while others tend to have a more positive attitude towards their chosen channel (i.e. purchasing). Background characteristics such as age, gender, education, and income show some relevance to the choice of music downloading channel. Regarding the importance attributed to and satisfaction from the eight product attributes, security of the source, variety of available music, quality, copyright, and legitimacy of the source are found to be significant in determining the choice.

This study is likely to guide digital music providers in designing their marketing plans using key attributes and consumer perceptions.

This is a rare study of downloading behaviour in the UK using a mixed population sample which is not dominated by students. Findings question the weight of price in decision making.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of religiosity as a deterrent to habitual digital piracy behaviour. Specifically, it will examine the extent to which “religious teaching” affects consumer attitudes towards digital piracy and their habitual digital piracy behaviour in a developing market.

In total, 400 usable samples were collected from large religious organisations in Indonesia using convenience sampling. The latent moderation structural equation technique was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results indicated that: facilitating conditions are a significant driver of digital piracy habit; attitude towards piracy is a significant deterrent of digital piracy and moderates the relationship between facilitating conditions and habitual digital piracy; and religious teaching is a significant deterrent of digital piracy habit, mediated by attitude towards piracy.

This study investigates the influence of Christian religious teaching as a deterrent to digital piracy behaviour. Further, it investigates the mediating and moderating role of attitude in a digital piracy context. The study findings would provide insights for policy makers to deter digital piracy behaviour through the use of religious appeals.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the purchase intention of counterfeit sporting goods between Singaporean and Taiwanese students using the Theory of Planned Behavior.

A quantitative approach was taken, collecting data from Singaporean and Taiwanese students studying in tertiary institutions. In total, 295 valid questionnaires were included in the data analysis.

The results showed that consumers’ attitude, subjective norm, and brand consciousness were predictive of purchase intention for both countries, whereas perceived behavioral control had an effect only among Taiwanese students. Further analysis showed that Singapore students had significantly higher positive attitudes toward the purchase of counterfeit sporting goods and higher levels of acceptance from peers in purchasing counterfeits.

A limitation of this study was that respondents were selected from the undergraduate population and as such were relatively younger than the general population.

The findings of this study provides a better understanding on how these factors affect purchase intention of counterfeit sporting goods across countries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of moral equity, relativism, and attitude towards digital piracy behaviour in a developing country. End-user piracy is more difficult to detect than commercial piracy. Thus, an effective strategy to combat piracy needs a comprehensive understanding of both the supply and demand sides of piracy. The current study focuses on the demand side by investigating the impact of moral equity, relativism, and attitude on consumer piracy behaviour in Indonesia.

Using a convenient sample in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, questionnaires were distributed in a large private university. In addition, through snowball sampling techniques, the surveys were also distributed to other adults who live within a walking distance from the campus. The data collection resulted in 222 usable surveys (a response rate of 68 per cent).

In Indonesia, moral equity had a negative and significant impact on purchases of illegal copies of music CDs and pirated software. Relativism affects the purchase of pirated software positively, but its effect on purchases of illegal copies of CDs is insignificant. Attitude towards the act was negatively impacted by moral equity for CDs and software. Relativism only significantly affects the purchase of pirated software but in the opposite direction while it has failed to reach significance for illegal music CD purchases. Attitude towards the software piracy and purchases of illegal copies of music CDs positively affect consumer’s digital piracy behaviour. Finally, Indonesian consumers feel more morally wrong to purchase illegal copies of CDs than to buy pirated software.

In the context of Indonesia, higher moral equity has affected piracy behaviour negatively. Therefore, efforts to reduce piracy should focus on highlighting the importance of fairness and justice. One of the main drivers of digital piracy (e.g. buying, downloading, copying, and sharing digital materials illegally) is overpriced products. It has led many Indonesians to believe that it is acceptable to purchase pirated software and illegal copies of CDs. Nonetheless, if companies are able to lower prices; thus make it affordable to consumers, consumers will perceive fairness and justice in purchasing original copies of software and CDs.

There are very limited studies investigating factors impacting the purchase of pirated software and CDs in the developing countries specifically Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation in the world and one of the biggest markets for counterfeit products. This is one of first few studies exploring this issue in Indonesia.

Intellectual property theft amounts to billions of dollars per year worldwide. The first step in stemming this loss is to understand the underlying precursors of this behavior. This paper aims to propose and test a model of consumer choice to purchase or pirate intellectual property, specifically music. This paper combines and applies the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and Becker’s theory of crime to develop a more comprehensive model of digital piracy behavior. Culture was tested as an antecedent to the attitudes and the perceptions of risk associated with music piracy.

A survey of 4,618 participants was conducted across 23 countries. Construct measures were validated using confirmatory factor analysis in LISREL. A conceptual model was tested using logistic structural equation modeling in MPlus. Respondents were asked about the last music they acquired to test a behavioral model of music piracy.

The results indicated that culture, specifically rule orientation and uncertainty avoidance, had a significant impact on attitudes toward the music industry, ethical perceptions of music piracy and risk perceptions. Respondents’ ethical perceptions of downloading had the highest impact on music piracy behavior. The personal/copy risk associated with the illegal downloading of music had a significant impact while the relative channel risk did not. The market value, quality and selection also had a significant impact on downloading behavior, as did the respondent's ability to find and download music.

While this paper was limited by focusing on the illegal downloading of music, the results can provide guidance in the design of future research concerning the piracy and unlicensed downloading of other types of intellectual properties such as movies/videos, TV, paywall content and e-books.

In recent years, improved access to music and video through online streaming and online stores has significantly decreased music piracy. This research indicated that further inroads into this behavior could be made through better online purchase access and through consumer education about the ethics and results of digital downloading. Further, efforts are more efficient by targeting cultures with lower levels of rule orientation with ethics education and targeted risk messages in countries with higher uncertainty avoidance.

Yearly losses to the music industry amount to about $5-29bn. Many find music and video downloading and “sharing” as acceptable. The model developed in this research has implications to affect this mass loss of revenue to the music industry and perhaps the societal view of downloading behavior that is illegal but commonly accepted.

This model is the first to integrate cultural aspects into models of digital piracy. In addition, the model is developed from a strong theoretical base (TRA and Becker’s theory of crime) to integrate multiple antecedents to intellectual property theft research.

This paper analyzes consumers’ attitudes and behaviors towards online piracy and their willingness to try subscription-based music services. The objective is to develop and test an attitude-intention model which includes ethical considerations in consumers’ decision making process regarding music consumption.

The study analyzes 505 consumer questionnaires using a structural equations model.

Attitude toward online piracy is positively determined by economic and hedonic benefits and negatively by moral judgment. A favorable attitude toward online piracy, in turn, negatively influences consumers’ willingness to try subscription-based music services, which is also directly determined by their interest and involvement with the services themselves.

The limitations of the paper are linked mainly to the adapted scales, to the analysis of just two subscription-based music services (Napster and Spotify) and to the fact that all respondents came from one country.

The results call for a greater commitment by music industry actors to educate consumers about the consequences and implications of online music piracy, while also stressing the value added and hedonic benefits offered by subscription-based music services.

This paper is the first to focus on consumers’ propensity toward online piracy and their willingness to try subscription-based music services as a possible alternative to the phenomenon, through the development and test of an attitude-intention model that includes ethical considerations.

This study aims to compare the purchase intention of counterfeit outdoor products between Taiwan and Hong Kong consumers.

A total of 584 respondents from Hong Kong (n = 247, 42%) and Taiwan (n = 337, 58%) were recruited for the study. Data analysis was performed by using structural equation modelling techniques.

The results showed that consumers' perceived risk had a negative influence on attitude and intention to purchase counterfeit outdoor products. Moreover, attitude towards buying counterfeit outdoor products, perceived behavioural control and subjective norm had positive impacts on purchase intention. Brand consciousness, however, had a negative influence on purchase intention. The multi-group analysis identified significant differences between Hong Kong and Taiwanese respondents.

This study provides a better understanding of how these factors affect purchase intention of counterfeit outdoor products across different cultures.

Purpose – Despite an abundance of literature on the effects of copyright infringement on music consumption, empirical evidence remains ambiguous. The aim of this chapter is to quantify the effect of copyright infringement on recorded music purchases and live music attendance for Spanish frequent music consumers, and to measure its effect on participation for all music consumers.

Design/methodology approach – We rely on survey data for the Spanish population as our main information source and use propensity score matching to estimate the average effect of copyright infringement on music consumption. In order to do so, the methodology aims at estimating the difference between actual outcomes (record purchases or attendance to live concerts) for copyright infringers and the (counterfactual) outcome would they had not been infringers.

Findings – Two findings stand out. First, and with regards to recorded music consumption, we find a net positive effect of copyright infringement on full album purchases although a nonsignificant one for tracks. Second, there is a positive and significant effect on live attendance, which is consistent with an indirect appropriation effect across products. These results are robust when participation is considered, but some interesting differences arise between recorded music purchasers and live concerts attenders.

Originality/value – First, the use of a counterfactual control group provides an additional approach to the assessment of copyright infringement. Second, within the same framework we investigate the effects of copyright infringement on recorded and live music, an approach that sheds some light on the degree of complementarity between both markets.

This paper seeks to assess the impact of consumer ethics and their piracy attitudes on piracy behaviors. The extent of such piracy is difficult to estimate because no worldwide statistics are available, but conservative estimates indicate that it costs manufacturers billions of dollars.

The research was conducted using Israeli consumers through a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed mostly through regression models.

Attitudes to piracy served as a partial mediator of the impacts of consumer morals and ethics on actual piracy.

The major limitation is the use of a convenience sample and future research should replicate and extend this study using random samples.

First, firms should advertise piracy as unethical. This would result in recognition of unethical piracy behavior by some part of the population. For piracy reduction, such people should recognize the need to “balance the ethical book” within the same context of behavior. In other words, if they have pirated from a company in the past, such people should be encouraged to purchase from the same company in the future.

The paper assesses the impact of consumer ethics and their piracy attitudes and behaviors.