Dishonesty and Music Piracy Do Feedback Techniques really work and how do perceptions and individual creativity play a role?

Abstract

[eng] The following research carried out examines the different effects of moral reminders, in this case positive and negative feedback techniques, on individual’s willingness to contribute to the music industry buy deciding to use legitimate means of purchasing rather than downloading pirated music. Other factors considered were the level of creativity of the individual and how the internet impacts perceptions of dishonesty in relation to music piracy. A linear public good games model was applied with participants deciding how many songs, out of a required 10, to acquire through legitimate means, representing contributions to the public good, and how many songs to obtain through unauthorized sites. Participants also answered two questionnaires to determine their level of creativity and their attitudes and behavior towards music piracy. Results showed no significant difference between the control group, those subjected to no moral reminder, and the two groups subjected to either positive or negative feedback, allowing us to suggest that traditional anti piracy messages may be ineffective. Creativity showed to have an impact on how the act of using unauthorized sources is perceived and Digital stealing” by using unauthorized sites to obtain music was considered far less dishonest than physically stealing a CD.