Why we pirate - The extent and motivations of illegal content consumption
In this article, we’re exploring YouGov data to see how many consumers across markets acquire content or digital products and services through illegal means i.e., piracy and what explains why they do so.
According to data from a recent YouGov survey, more than a quarter of consumers (27%) across the international markets surveyed say they have acquired content, products services like TV shows, movies, podcasts or work software illegally.
A larger proportion of consumers (56%) say they haven’t.
Further, men are more likely than women (31% vs. 22%) to have acquired digital content, products and services through illegal means.
When it comes to factors that explain why consumers resort to acquiring or using content and products illegally, similar proportions of consumers across markets cite two reasons:
- The content acquired isn’t available through any official physical or digital stores (34%) in that market.
- Prices of the content or products are too high (33%) and these audiences refuse to pay.
The third factor pushing consumers to illegally source digital content talks about affordability - with 29% of them saying they don’t have enough money to afford all the content they want.
Pirated content consumption patterns and reasons to do so, by individual markets surveyed
Indonesians (43%) and Mexicans (40%) are the most likely across all markets surveyed to have ever used or acquired content, products or services through illegal means, while Spaniards (33%) lead among European consumers surveyed. Nearly a third of consumers in the UAE (32%) have used such content as well, so have a similar proportion of Indians (31%).
In Great Britian, nearly a quarter of consumers (24%) have used illegally acquired content, products or services. A smaller proportion of Americans (18%) have followed suit.
Italians lead across markets (at 68%), in saying they haven’t used or acquired content or products through illegal means, followed by Germans (67%), Americans (63%), Brits (62%) and Hong Kongers (62%).
As for why people consume pirated content, among consumers who do consume pirated content, Indians account for the largest proportion of those across markets who cite the following reasons to explain why they consumer illegally acquired content:
- I could pay but pirating is easier and more convenient compared to getting content officially (35%, followed by Singaporeans at 29% and Swedes at 25%).
- Everyone in my community does it (30%, followed by respondents in the UAE at 22%).
- I do wish to consumer the content but don’t want to give money to the publishing/developing companies (31%, followed by Americans at 23%).
Singaporeans are the most likely to cite high prices of contents, products and services (44%, closely followed by Italians (43%) and Poles (41%).
Americans are the most likely to say they opt for piracy because they don’t have enough money to afford all the content they want (37%), followed by Canadians (36%) and Italians (35%). Notably, the Motion Picture Association recently made known plans to target pirated content, yet again.
Brits lead in saying they illegally acquire content since it isn’t available through official channels (47%), followed by Australians (43%). Last year, less than a quarter of consumers in Britain (23%) actively searched for content from free-to-use unauthorized/unlicensed sources, according to YouGov data.
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from
nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 511/185 and 2054/478 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in May 2024. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.
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