E-textbook piracy behavior. An integration of ethics theory, deterrence theory, and theory of planned behavior
Pages | 105-123 |
Published date | 31 May 2019 |
Date | 31 May 2019 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-11-2018-0081 |
Author | Sri Rahayu Hijrah Hati,Rahma Fitriasih,Anya Safira |
Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information & communications technology |
E-textbook piracy behavior
An integration of ethics theory, deterrence
theory, and theory of planned behavior
Sri Rahayu Hijrah Hati
Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business,
University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Rahma Fitriasih
Graduate School of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business,
University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia, and
Anya Safira
Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business,
University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence the intention of students
to pirate academic e-books by integrating three main theories: ethics theory, deterrence theory, and
the theory of planned behavior. The study also examines the moderating role of past piracy behavior
on the relationship between the factors in the previously mentioned theories and students’piracy
intention.
Design/methodology/approach –The data were collected using a convenience sample of 662
university students. Basedon their past behaviors, the students were grouped into “no piracy”and “piracy”
groups.
Findings –The result shows that the piracy intention of both the no-piracy and piracy groups has a
similar influence based on the moral obligation in ethics theory. The factors in the deterrence theory,
which includes fear of legal consequences and perceived likelihood of punishment, have no significant
impact on the attitudes of the two groups toward piracy. While the intention of the no-piracy group is
not influenced by other internal factors, such as self-efficacy, or by external factors, such as subjective
norms and facilitating conditions, the behavioral intention of the piracy group is significantly
influenced by these three factors.
Research limitations/implications –This study only focuses on piracy attitude and behavior in the
contextof e-books.
Practical implications –In Indonesia, the insignificantimpact of factors from deterrence theory (thefear
of legal consequences and perceived punishment) indicates weak law enforcement to combat digitalpiracy.
Thus, it isimperative that law enforcement, especiallyregarding piracy, should be enhanced.
Social implications –The significant role of ethicsin the attitudes toward piracy indicates that morality
serves as a moral compass tofight piracy behavior. The strong impact of subjective norms, especiallyin the
piracy group, suggeststhat families should raise children and educate youth withbeliefs that align with the
conceptsof morality.
Conflict of Interest: We have no conflict of interest to declare.
Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance
with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki
declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
E-textbook
piracy
behavior
105
Received2 November 2018
Revised26 February 2019
Accepted7 March 2019
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.18 No. 1, 2020
pp. 105-123
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-11-2018-0081
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1477-996X.htm
Originality/value –The study integrates three theories that are most often used in piracy behavior
studies: ethics theory, deterrence theory, and theory of planned behavior. In addition, the study provides
empiricalevidence on the moderating role of past experiencein piracy behavior.
Keywords Theory of planned behaviour, Deterrence theory, Ethics theory, Past behaviour,
E-textbook piracy
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
E-books, which consist of the contents of a book in an electronic form, have surged in popularity in
recent years (Nuwer, 2016). E-books add value to customers because they integrate the structure of
the classical printed book with an electronic environment (Landoni et al., 2000). Compared to their
classical counterpart, e-books offer fast access to the text; ease of browsing, navigating and
searching; ease in performing data sharing andother benefits (Summerfield et al., 2000).
Inevitably, the conveniences offeredbye-bookshavedrivene-bookpiracy(Camarero et al.,
2014). Downloading pirated products on the internet is not a difficult task and can be
accomplished in less than a minute (Cooper and Harrison, 2001). Book piracy is a costly global
problem that threatens the existence of publishers (Kozlowski, 2018). The statistical data show that
17 per cent of e-books read in the United Kingdom, or around four million e-books, are pirated
(Kozlowski, 2018). In Russia, 92 per cent of book readers downloaded books illegally from the
internet (Kozlowski, 2018). In terms of demographic profile, a study on e-book piracy shows that
47 per cent of e-book pirates are consumers aged between 30 and 44, followed by 41 per cent in the
18- to 29-year-old group, while the remaining 13 per cent are aged 45 or older (Kozlowski, 2018).
Textbooks represent a specifictype of book that are largely influenced by piracy (Elliott,
2016). The factors that influence textbook piracy are high prices of textbooks, little to no
income, and availability of websites providing free e-books (Elliott, 2016;Reiss, 2011).
Moreover, book piracy in university is not only conducted by students.Textbook piracy in
university is sometimes conducted by lecturers or instructors, who feel sympathetic about
the students’low book budgets(Haines, 2018).
Indonesia has a high prevalenceof digital piracy (Kozlowski, 2018;Yasmine, 2018). Some
factors that influence digitalpiracy in Indonesia are the low purchasing power of customers
and weak law enforcement (Triyanto,2017). A study that specifically investigated students’
piracy behavior in Indonesiashows that the most significant factor influencing the students’
behavior with regardto pirating textbooks is their attitude toward piracy(Utami, 2009).
Piracy intention and behavior have been examined through many perspectives and
theories. The following theories have been applied in studies related to piracy: theory of
planned behavior (Alam etal.,2011;Arliand Tjiptono, 2016;Casidy et al., 2016;Gupta et al.,
2004;Harrington, 2006;Liao et al.,2010;Panas and Ninni, 2011;Phau et al.,2014;Su et al.,
2011;Yoon, 2011), deterrence theory (Arli and Tjiptono, 2016;Higgins et al., 2005;Kartas
and Goode, 2012;van Rooij et al.,2015)and ethics theory (Arli and Tjiptono, 2016;Kini et al.,
2004;Logsdon et al.,1994;Moores and Chang, 2006;Wagner and Sanders, 2001;Woolley,
2015;Yoon, 2011). However, despite all of this prior work, there is a dearth of research
integrating the above theories in an integrative study. An exception is Arli and Tjiptono
(2016), who integrated all of the above theories into one study. Yoon (2011) also integrated
two of the above theories: the theory of plannedbehavior and ethics theory.
Some of these studies also used student samples (Alam and Sayuti, 2011;Arli and Tjiptono,
2016;Kini et al.,2004;Moores et al.,2009;Ramayah et al.,2009;Siegfried, 2004;Yoon, 2011).
However, most studies with student samples focused only on software (Alam et al.,2011;Kini
et al.,2004;Moores et al.,2009;Siegfried, 2004) and digital piracy (Arli and Tjiptono, 2016;
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