Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ethical Decision Making in a Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Situation: The Role of Moral Absolutes and Social Consensus

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Individuals are downloading copyrighted materials at escalating rates (Hill 2007; Siwek 2007). Since most materials shared within these networks are copyrighted works, providing, exchanging, or downloading files is considered to be piracy and a violation of intellectual property rights (Shang et al. 2008). Previous research indicates that personal moral philosophies rooted in moral absolutism together with social context may impact decision making in ethical dilemmas; however, it is yet unclear which motivations and norms contextually impact moral awareness in a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing context (Shang et al. 2008). In sum, factors affecting the decision to share copyrighted material require further clarification and investigation (Shang et al. 2008). The purpose of this study was to use a consumer-based scenario and multiple ethics measures to explore how idealism, formalism, and perceived social consensus impact users’ propensity to recognize that the sharing of copyrighted media through P2P networks was an ethical issue and their subsequent ethical intentions. Results showed that high levels of idealism and formalism were associated with an increased recognition that file sharing was an ethical issue, but neither construct had a direct effect on ethical intention. Strong social consensus among respondents that other people consider file sharing to be unethical was also positively related to the recognition that file sharing was an ethical issue, and ethical recognition was a moderate predictor of intention not to engage in file sharing. Finally, a post hoc mediation analysis indicated that idealism, formalism, and social consensus operated through recognition of an ethical issue to impact ethical intention (indirect-only mediation).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Notes

  1. Deep packet inspection (DPI) technologies have been used to reduce illegal usage of P2P networks by inspecting P2P transfer material. DPI can estimate the extent of piracy occurring and notify individual users who may be violating copyright law. However, some encryption software actually prevents DPI from detecting whether transferred material is copyrighted, rendering enforcement attempts ineffective. Thus, P2P users or developers may use encryptions as a way of avoiding detection by transfer inspection technologies.

  2. Valid percentages reported.

  3. Non-responses on this item were coded as “0.”

References

  • Alexander, C. S., & Becker, H. J. (1978). The use of vignettes in survey research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 42(1), 93–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Khatib, J. A., Vitell, S. J., & Rawwas, M. Y. A. (1997). Consumer ethics: A cross-cultural investigation. European Journal of Marketing, 31(11/12), 736–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Rafee, S., & Cronan, T. P. (2006). Digital piracy: Factors that influence attitude toward behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 63, 237–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altschuller, S., & Benbunan-Fich, R. (2009). Is music downloading the new prohibition? What students reveal through an ethical dilemma. Ethics Information Technology, 11, 49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. (2003, August 30). Tipping Hollywood the black spot. The Economist 368(8339), 43–44.

  • Anonymous. (2009, May 30). What’s mine is yours. The Economist, 80.

  • Barnett, T. (2001). Dimensions of moral intensity and ethical decision-making: An empirical study. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31(5), 1038–1057.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, T., Bass, K., Brown, G., & Hebert, F. J. (1998). Ethical ideology and the ethical judgments of marketing professionals. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 715–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, T., & Valentine, S. (2004). Issue contingencies and marketers’ recognition of ethical issues, ethical judgments and behavioral intentions’. Journal of Business Research, 57(4), 338–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bateman, C. R., Fraedrich, J. P., & Iyer, R. (2003). The integration and testing of the Janus-headed model within marketing. Journal of Business Research, 56(8), 587–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bateman, C., & Valentine, S. (2010). Investigating the effects of gender on consumers’ moral philosophies and ethical intentions. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(3), 393–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharjee, S., Gopal, R. D., & Sanders, G. L. (2003). Digital music and online sharing: software piracy 2.0. Communications of the ACM, 46(7), 107–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brady, F. N. (1985). A Janus-headed model of ethical theory: Looking two ways at business/society issues. Academy of Management Review, 10(3), 568–576.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady, F. N. (1988). Practical formalism: A new method proposed for business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 7(3), 163–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brady, F. N., & Wheeler, G. E. (1996). An empirical study of ethical predispositions. Journal of Business Ethics, 15(9), 927–940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butterfield, K. D., Trevino, L. K., & Weaver, G. R. (2000). Moral awareness in business organizations: influences of issue-related and social context factors. Human Relations, 53(7), 981–1018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cateora, P. R., Gilly, M. C., & Graham, J. L. (2011). International marketing (15th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavanagh, G. F., Fritzsche, S. J., & Fritzsche, D. J. (1985). Using vignettes in business ethics research. Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, 7, 279–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M. K. (1998). Predicting unethical behavior: A comparison of the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 17(16), 1825–1834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiang, E. P., & Assane, D. (2009). Estimating the willingness to pay for digital music. Contemporary Economic Policy, 27(4), 512–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chmielewski, D. C. (2008, November 4). Warner takes new tack against piracy. Los Angeles Times, C1, C6.

  • Cronan, T. P., & Al-Rafee, S. (2008). Factors that influence the intention to pirate software and media. Journal of Business Ethics, 78, 525–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. A., Andersen, M. G., & Curtis, M. B. (2001). Measuring ethical ideology in business ethics: A critical analysis of the ethics position questionnaire. Journal of Business Ethics, 32(1), 35–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elango, B., Paul, K., Kundu, S. K., & Paudel, S. K. (2010). Organizational ethics, individual ethics, and ethical intentions in international decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 97, 543–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2011). Intellectual property theft. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/cyber/ipr/anti-piracy.

  • Ferrell, O. C., Gresham, L. G., & Fraedrich, J. (1989). A synthesis of ethical decision models for marketing. Journal of Macromarketing, 11(Fall), 55–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleischman, G., & Valentine, S. (2003). Professionals’ tax liability assessments and ethical evaluations in an equitable relief innocent spouse case. Journal of Business Ethics, 42(1), 27–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, D. R. (1980). A taxonomy of ethical ideologies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(1), 175–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, D. R. (1992). Judging the morality of business practices: The influences of personal moral philosophies. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5/6), 461–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, D. R., & Berger, R. E. (1982). The effects of ethical ideology on moral behavior. The Journal of Social Psychology, 117, 53–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukukawa, K., & Ennew, C. (2010). What we believe is not always what we do: An empirical investigation into ethically questionable behavior in consumption. Journal of Business Ethics, 91, 49–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gopal, R. D., Sanders, G. L., Bhattacherjee, S., Agrawal, M., & Wagner, S. C. (2004). A behavior model of digital music piracy. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 14(2), 89–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henle, C., Giacalone, R., & Jurkiewicz, C. (2005). The role of ethical ideology in workplace deviance. Journal of Business Ethics, 56(3), 219–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, C. W. L. (2007). Digital piracy: Causes, consequences, and strategic responses. Asian Pacific Journal of Management, 24, 9–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. D., & Vitell, S. (1986). A general theory of marketing ethics. Journal of Macromarketing, 6(1), 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of Management Review, 16(2), 366–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, W. K. (1994). A theory of social norms. University of Illinois Law Review, 1994(3), 545–596.

    Google Scholar 

  • La Rose, R., & Kim, J. (2007). Share, steal, or buy? A social cognitive perspective of music downloading. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 10(2), 267–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lam, N. M., & Graham, J. L. (2007). China now, doing business in the world’s most dynamic market. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, R. (2011, June 9). Piracy watchdog’s mild bite. Los Angeles Times.

  • Loo, R., & Loewen, P. (2004). Confirmatory factor analysis of scores from full and short versions of the Marlowe–Crowne social desirability scale. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(11), 2343–2352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, L., & Lu, C. (2010). Moral philosophy, materialism, and consumer ethics: An exploratory study in Indonesia. Journal of Business Ethics, 94, 193–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lysonski, S., & Durvasula, S. (2008). Digital piracy of MPs: Consumer and ethical predispositions. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25(3), 167–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • May, D. R., & Pauli, K. P. (2002). The role of moral intensity in ethical decision making: A review and investigation of moral recognition, evaluation, and intentions. Business and Society, 41(1), 84–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meteus, A. M., & Peha, J. M. (2008) Dimensions of P2P and digital piracy in a university campus. In Proceedings of 2008 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC), pp. 1–35.

  • Moores, T. T., & Esichaikul, V. (2011). Socialization and software piracy: A study. Journal of Computer Information Systems, Spring, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narvaez, D., Getz, I., Rest, J. R., & Thoma, S. J. (1999). Individual moral judgment and cultural ideologies. Developmental Psychology, 35(2), 478–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, N. T., & Biderman, M. D. (2008). Studying ethical judgments and behavioral intentions using structural equations: Evidence from the multidimensional ethics scale. Journal of Business Ethics, 83, 627–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Fallon, M. J., & Butterfield, K. D. (2005). A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 1996–2003. Journal of Business Ethics, 59, 375–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, R. A., Albaum, G., Merunka, D., Munuera, J. L., & Smith, S. M. (2010). Effects of nationality, gender, and religiosity on business-related ethicality. Journal of Business Ethics, 96, 573–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfanner, E. (2010, January 22). Music industry counts cost of piracy. The New York Times.

  • Power, S. J., & Lundsten, L. L. (2005). Managerial and other white-collar employees’ perceptions of ethical issues in their workplaces. Journal of Business Ethics, 60(2), 185–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randall, D. M., & Fernandes, M. (1991). The social desirability response bias in ethics research. Journal of Business Ethics, 10(11), 805–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reidenbach, R. E., & Robin, D. P. (1988). Some initial steps toward improving the measurement of ethics evaluations in marketing activities. Journal of Business Ethics, 7, 871–879.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reidenbach, R. E., & Robin, D. P. (1990). Toward the development of a multidimensional scale for improving evaluations of business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(8), 639–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reidenbach, R. E., Robin, D. P., & Dawson, L. (1991). An application and extension of a multidimensional ethics scale to selected marketing practices and marketing groups. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 19, 83–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, S. J. (2006). Moral awareness and ethical predispositions: Investigating the role of individual differences in the recognition of moral issues. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1), 233–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. L. (2003, September 22). Out of tune. Newsweek, 42.

  • Shang, R., Chen, Y., & Chen, P. (2008). Ethical decisions about sharing music files in the P2P environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 80, 349–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheth, J. N., & Frazier, G. L. (1982). A model of strategy mix choice for planned social change. Journal of Marketing, 46(Winter), 15–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singhapakdi, A., Kraft, K. L., Vitell, S. J., & Rallapalli, K. C. (1996a). The perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility on organizational effectiveness: A Survey of marketers. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(1), 49–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singhapakdi, A., Salyachivin, S., Virakul, B., & Veerayangkur, V. (2000). Some important factors underlying ethical decision making of managers in Thailand. Journal of Business Ethics, 27(3), 271–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S. J., & Franke, G. R. (1999). Antecedents, consequences, and mediating effects of perceived moral intensity and personal moral philosophies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27(1), 19–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S. J., & Kraft, K. L. (1996b). Moral intensity and ethical decision-making of marketing professionals. Journal of Business Research, 36(3), 245–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, R. K., & Mandel, N. (2008). Preventing digital music piracy: The carrot or the stick. Journal of Marketing, 72(January), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siwek, S. E. (2007). The true cost of copyright industry piracy to the U.S. Economy. Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), policy report #189, posted 10/03/2007 on http://bx.businessweek.com. Accessed 23 September, 2011, from EBSCO .

  • Swaidan, Z., Rawwas, M. Y. A., & Al-Khatib, J. A. (2004). Consumer eEthics: Moral ideologies and ethical beliefs of a micro-culture in the U.S. International Business Review, 13(6), 749–761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thong, J. Y., & Yap, C. (1998). Testing an ethical decision-making theory: The case of softlifting. Journal of Management Information Systems, 15(1), 215–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, S., & Barnett, T. (2007). Perceived organizational ethics and the ethical decisions of sales and marketing personnel. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 27(4), 373–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, S., & Bateman, C. (2011). The impact of ethical idealogies, moral intensity, and social context on sales-based ethical reasoning. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(1), 155–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ventimiglia, M., & MacDonald, D. A. (2012). An examination of the factorial dimensionality of the Marlowe Crowne social desirability scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(4), 487–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitell, S. J., & Patwardham, A. (2008). The role of moral intensity and moral philosophy in ethical decision making: A cross-cultural comparison of China and the European Union. Business Ethics: A European View, 17(2), 196–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitell, S. J., Rallapalli, K., & Singhapakdi, A. (1993). Marketing norms: The influences of personal moral philosophies and organizational ethical culture. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 21(Fall), 331–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitell, S. J., & Singhapakdi, A. (1993). Ethical ideology and its influence on the norms and judgments of marketing practitioners. Journal of Marketing Management, Spring/Summer, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterman, D., Ji, S. W., & Rochet, L. R. (2007). Enforcement and control of piracy, copying, and sharing in the movie industry. Review of Industrial Organization, 30, 255–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, J. (1990). Scenarios in business ethics research: Review, critical assessment, and recommendations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2, 137–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, X., Lynch, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37, 197–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, University of North Dakota, 293 Centennial Drive, Mailstop 8366, Grand Forks, ND, 58202-8366, USA

    Connie R. Bateman

  2. Department of Management, University of North Dakota, 293 Centennial Drive, Mailstop 8377, Grand Forks, ND, 58202-8377, USA

    Sean Valentine

  3. Department of Management and Marketing, College of Business, Dept. 3275, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Terri Rittenburg

Authors
  1. Connie R. Bateman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sean Valentine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Terri Rittenburg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sean Valentine.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bateman, C.R., Valentine, S. & Rittenburg, T. Ethical Decision Making in a Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Situation: The Role of Moral Absolutes and Social Consensus. J Bus Ethics 115, 229–240 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1388-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1388-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation