The relevance of online piracy in the new decade: An empirical study of video content piracy

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

URL

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

School of Business | Bachelor's thesis

Date

2020

Department

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

(Mikkeli) Bachelor’s Program in International Business

Language

en

Pages

72 + 6

Series

Abstract

Objectives The main objective of the study was to research key factors and motivations for consumers when choosing to engage in the online piracy of video content. These motivations would then be utilised by businesses and content providers to improve their current distribution and business models, services and distribution channels in order to reduce piracy rates of their video content. To date, few studies have attempted to extend current business models to rising piracy rates. Summary Global video content piracy rates continue to rise despite industry and government efforts to stagnate it. Academic research in the form of a quantitative survey study was deployed to explore what factors contribute to consumer piracy behavior. Data was gathered through a survey, which received 303 responses from 45 different countries, spanning six continents. The data from the survey indicated core service issues as main contributing factors to online piracy of video content. Differences in piracy rates between demographics such as gender and location were also found. Conclusions Consumers and pirates alike would gladly pay for content but feel as in content is too dispersed across different streaming services, regionally locked or receive delayed releases in one’s own region, making piracy the best or in some cases only option to consume content instantly. Consumers also neutralized the crime with by denying financial impact from piracy and were more likely to pirate if they had the necessary capabilities or less moral obligation against it. Content providers need to prioritize synchronized global distribution and educational campaigns about the harms caused by online piracy.

Description

Thesis advisor

Lehtonen, Miikka J.

Keywords

online piracy, movies, consumer behavior, digital distribution, business model, streaming service, criminological theory, intentions

Other note

Citation