Discussion and implications
The objectives of the research are to identify and evaluate the
antecedents of attitude toward digital music piracy and check
whether a favorable attitude toward the phenomenon would
result in a negative willingness to try SBMS. We show that
perceived hedonic and economic benefits positively influence
attitude toward online piracy, while moral judgment has a
negative influence; in addition, willingness to try SBMS is
positively influenced by the interest and involvement with the
services themselves while negatively influenced by a positive
attitude toward online piracy. This evidence has interesting
implications for both academia and practice.
From a theoretical point of view, this research sheds light on
the unexplored relationship between attitude toward online
piracy and willingness-to-try a legal alternative to the
phenomenon (i.e. SBMS). Our finding that there is an inverse
relationship between attitude toward piracy and
willingness-to-try SBMS) suggests that scholars need to delve
further into what factors drive consumers to prefer illegal
versions of digital content even when legal, inexpensive
versions are available, is of primary importance. Research
should examine contextual factors such as ease of access, price
differential and peer pressure which may serve as boundary
conditions for our model
From a practical point of view, our finding that an unfavorable
attitude about piracy can stimulate willingness to try SBMS
calls for greater action from both governments and music
industry actors. Therefore, these need to make greater efforts
in educating the public about piracy, explaining the illegality,
the unethicality and the negative consequences of the
phenomenon, while also creating ad hoc marketing campaigns
to communicate the existence and value added of legal
alternatives, such as SBMS, in order to enhance their trial and
adoption rates.
To achieve such objectives, companies should, first of all,
increase consumers’ awareness of SBMS, concerning their
existence and specific characteristics. The research revealed
that the more consumers are involved and interested in a
SBMS the much more likely they are to try them (I&I - H5).
Therefore, music companies providing SBMS, starting with
Napster and Spotify, should increase consumer knowledge
about the legal music access opportunities that the new
technologies offer them and about their characteristics. To do
so, companies’ communication campaigns should use a
multi-channel, multi-partner and multi-level approach to
reach present and prospect music consumers. A good example
is “Creative Content UK”, an initiative carried out by the
British creative industries in partnership with major ISPs and
the government[5]. The initiative aims at increasing consumer
awareness of the multitude of legitimate online content
services available, through an educational multi-media
campaign to be launched before the spring 2015, while
helping reduce online piracy, through a subscriber alert
program that will warn users when their accounts are
suspected to be infringing copyright.