Self sanction and regulative sanction against copyright infringement: A comparison between U.S. and China college students

Worldwide losses due to the copyright infringement of intellectual property such as PC software, music recordings, and motion pictures continue at epidemic proportions in emerging countries. This article develops a research model for analyzing individual ethical decision making that is influenced simultaneously by two chief forces: regulative sanction and self sanction. In particular, we report on the differences between 241 U.S. and 277 China college students' self‐reported copyright infringement behaviors and attitudes. The analysis shows that the China subjects exhibit less concern about being prosecuted and penalized, but are equally responsive to social sanctions as U.S. subjects, strongly suggesting that stricter enforcement of copyright law in China will reduce copyright violations. However, the results show that self‐regulatory efficacy is the primary determinant of copyright adherence for the U.S. subjects. For the China subjects, while self‐regulatory efficacy is shown to significantly predict copyright infringement behaviors, it exists at lower levels and plays a lesser role in ethical decision making when compared to the U.S. subjects. Overall, the results indicate that normative and cultural‐cognitive changes in China that go beyond regulative enforcement may be required if significant reductions in copyright infringement are to be expected.