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.
The second goal for companies is to communicate the value
added of SBMS and its distinctive positioning versus online
piracy. Attitude toward online piracy is, in fact, negatively related
to the willingness to try SBMS (ATT - H6); it is therefore
important to operate on the variables that can influence it:
economic benefit, hedonic benefit, moral judgment.
Concerning the economic benefits (ECON - H1), since it is
not possible to compete on price with a free (yet illegal)
alternative, SBMS’ efforts should be destined to build a
correct perceived price/value relationship for consumers.
Investing in both service activities (such as the
user-friendliness of the Web site and the mobile app) and
communication campaigns that emphasize the relatively low
prices of the services, the ease of access and use, the breadth
of libraries available and the information about new
productions is crucial.
Regard the hedonic benefits (HED - H2) perceived by final
consumers in purchasing pirated goods, music companies
should emphasize how consuming illegal music does not mean
being a “smart shopper”, even though someone can feel that
performing an illegal, pirating act might be perceived “fun” or
“a good laugh”. Companies should explain in greater detail
what lies behind such act, who the real victims are, to yield
positive effects and curb pirating behaviors. Furthermore,
SBMS offer significant hedonic (and legal) benefits too and
people who don’t know the service enough are not well
informed about them. Companies should therefore stress this
aspect of the offer: ease of access from multiple devices (both
desktop and mobile), opportunity to explore new kinds of
music and know new authors with the support of the platform,
possibility to enjoy pre-assembled playlists for every occasion
(from working out to studying, from ambient music to a
road-trip soundtrack) while also creating and sharing
personalized playlists over social networks are just some of the
great features of SBMS that need to be further communicated.
All these aspects should be tempting to consumers who are
looking for a “fun”, “social” experience and should encourage
them into trying the services.
Finally, moral judgment (MOR - H3) was found to be a
negative predictor of attitude toward online piracy and,
indirectly, a positive predictor of willingness to try
subscription-based services. Thus, it is important for
companies to invest resources to raise the ethical threshold of
consumers. Music companies should advertise music piracy as
unethical, to make at least a part of the population aware of the
issue; also, since morality implies consciousness of the
consequences an unethical act implies for society and for
oneself, it is imperative that music industry actors, victims of
piracy, educate the public to understand the direct and
indirect damages caused by the phenomenon, such as
investment reductions, job losses (from songwriters to record
artists, from audio engineers to producers), legal litigation,
etc. In addition, companies should stress the importance of
subscribing to a legal music service underlining how a
consumer could listen to music from an artist whom they
pirated in the past without any constraint, limitation or fear of
being caught while committing an illegal act.