![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Digital piracy is perceived as a victimless crime and therefore still challenges media industries. According to the neutralization theory, criminal behavior is more likely if individuals are able to justify it. As little is known about inhibitors and drivers of these cognitive processes, the current study investigated such preconditions by linking neutralization to social norms and content preferences (movies and series) in order to explain piracy attitudes and behavior. Results of an online survey which adopted a conjoint-task showed that attitudes toward digital piracy mediate neutralization effects on digital piracy behavior. Injunctive norms and the preference for independent movies foster neutralization effects.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Claudia Wilhelm
Claudia Wilhelm (Ph.D., Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena) is a Post Doctoral Researcher at the University of Erfurt. Her research interests include deviant behavior in digital media contexts, digital games, news selection and audience engagement in social media as well as gender and digital visibility.