British scientists from the University of Portsmouth found that warnings about responsibility for digital piracy encourage men to more actively use unlicensed content and not pay for the products of other people’s intellectual work. The study was published in the scientific journal broadcasting Journal of Business Ethics (JBE).
“We already know there are many gender differences in piracy, as men are more likely to be involved than women. Men believe it is more acceptable and poses less risk. In this study we wanted to look at whether anti-piracy messages had different effects on men and women.” said head writer Kate Whitman.
As part of the project, scientists used three message variants used during real anti-piracy campaigns. In two of these, users were threatened with legal consequences and computer viruses for using unlicensed products. The third message talked about the moral and economic harm of piracy and also included links to legal online platforms featuring music and movies.
The study found that a threatening ad reduced women’s piracy intentions by more than 50%, while men were 18% more likely to consume pirated content. Appeals to morality had no effect on either men or women.
According to Kate Whitman, from the perspective of evolutionary psychology, men’s rebellious response to stimuli arises from the desire to defend their freedom.
The findings have important practical implications for policymakers, content creators and digital piracy advocates, the article says. The findings of the research can be used to create more effective anti-piracy campaigns.
Previous experts appreciated The market for pirated copies of video games in Russia is worth hundreds of billions of rubles.