The University of Portsmouth have conducted a study that has examined the gender differences in digital piracy to understand who gets their online entertainment from illegal sources.
In order to carry out this investigation, researchers looked at two social influences: perceived social risk (the idea that piracy might damage your reputation) and a social norms intervention (correcting false assumptions of the piracy of others), which highlighted the difference between men and women.
The results have found that on average, 21% of men’s total (legal and illegal) live sports consumption was pirated, compared to only 7% for music, and both of these rates are almost double to those reported by women!
Dr Kate Whitman in the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Portsmouth has said: “When we compared piracy rates proportionally, men were consuming far more of their content illegally, indicating a potential gender difference in social expectations and moral reasoning,
“We speculate that in a self-serving behaviour with some moral wriggle-room, such as piracy, any mention of others’ engagement in the behaviour may serve as a handy justification for continued engagement.”
Researchers did find that attempts to tackle the problem through “norm-based” messaging, showing people the true prevalence of piracy compared to their assumption, often backfired – and regardless of whether men over or underestimated the piracy of others – their intention to pirate increased.
“Our findings show that normalising piracy, even unintentionally such as in population statistics, is a real danger,” said Professor Joe Cox, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance at the University of Plymouth. “For men, learning their peers are pirating can legitimise their behaviour. That means well-intentioned campaigns that highlight how common piracy is, may actually encourage it further.”
Being said, when the University researchers tested the perceived social risk, they found in live sports that men who worried piracy might harm their reputation were less likely to do it, while the same pattern didn’t appear for women.
The authors suggest that this reflects the male-dominated social setting of sport, where status matters and piracy could risk someone looking “cheap” or socially deviant.
In conclusion, researchers now say that anti-piracy messaging needs to be carefully considered, where communications emphasising social norms may serve to worsen the problem, particularly among men. Instead, interventions should highlight the reputational costs of piracy – portraying it as low-status, socially embarrassing, or even a marker of financial weakness.
“Legal threats have limited impact unless they are effectively followed through, and norm-based approaches can backfire,” said Dr Whitman. “But framing piracy as something that damages your reputation, especially in male-dominated environments like sports, could prove far more powerful.”
The authors urge policymakers to be aware. Without intervention, communications that hint that piracy is “normal” risk compounding the problem. Instead, future strategies need to focus on reputation, not legality, as the most effective deterrent.
