Psychological Reactance to Anti-Piracy Messages explained by Gender and Attitudes
A study published in the Journal of Business Ethics examines how anti-piracy messages affect individuals’ intentions to engage in digital TV and film piracy, focusing on the roles of gender and pre-existing attitudes. The research found that prosocial messages had no significant impact on piracy intentions. In contrast, threatening messages led to divergent outcomes: they decreased piracy intentions among women by over 50% but increased them among men by 18%. These effects were more pronounced in individuals with favorable attitudes toward piracy. The study suggests that men and women process threatening messages differently, indicating that anti-piracy campaigns should be carefully tailored to each gender to avoid unintended consequences.
