Sun et al. (2019)
Contents
Source Details
| Sun et al. (2019) | |
| Title: | Understanding attitudes towards intellectual property from the perspective of design professionals |
| Author(s): | Sun, X., Zhou, X., Wang, Q., Tang, P., Law, E.L., Cobb, S. |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Citation: | Sun, X. Zhou, X. Wang, Q. Tang, P. Law, E.L. and Cobb, S. (2019). Understanding attitudes towards intellectual property from the perspective of design professionals. Electronic Commerce Research, pp 1-23 |
| Link(s): | Definitive |
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| About the Data | |
| Data Description: | Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 49 designers and design managers (incl. product and industrial design, animation and media design and software and interaction design) from different regions of China. Thereafter, interview outputs were coded thematically under the following categories: • Motivation in design; |
| Data Type: | Primary data |
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| Cross Country Study?: | No |
| Comparative Study?: | No |
| Literature review?: | No |
| Government or policy study?: | No |
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Abstract
“Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are meant to protect and promote creativity and innovation. Regardless of the increasing role of IPR in advancing innovations, the corresponding IPR system in the creative industries is still underdeveloped and facing many challenges, especially in developing countries such as China. For example, designers may wittingly or unwittingly violate IP in their design activities, and piracy is a grave concern for the creative industries in China, which may lead to severe revenue drains. To facilitate the development of an IPR system in the creative industries in China, it is essential first to understand what factors may determine the attitudes of design professionals towards IPR in China. A qualitative contextual interview study, conducted with 49 Chinese designers and design managers, revealed different levels of IPR awareness (e.g. what constitutes IPR and how IPR can be protected), and the perceived effectiveness of IPR law enforcement (i.e. weak law enforcement vs vigorous law enforcement), and how different ethical beliefs and ethical climates can have a distinctive impact on attitudes towards IPR. Moreover, our study found that Chinese design professionals exhibit different motivations for their design work. Such motives in design can stimulate different levels of IPR awareness, and these could have an indirect impact on attitudes towards IPR. Based on these findings, a theoretical model is proposed, which incorporates several factors identified from the contextual interview study. Our theoretical model can serve as a baseline model and provide theoretical foundations for future empirical studies on people’s attitudes towards IPR.”
Main Results of the Study
• Designers’ motivation can be intrinsic (e.g. passionate about creating or creating for expressive purposes) and/or extrinsic (e.g. market or task orientated). Where designers are motivated extrinsically, they are less likely to seek or enforce protection for their designs, which is also attributed to low levels of awareness of IPR. These factors in turn create a negative influence on designers’ attitudes towards IPR. The study suggests that low levels of awareness are therefore correlated with low levels of protection, which in turn leads to enforcement issues.
• Awareness of IPR varies significantly across design professionals, but managers and designers in large companies usually have higher levels of awareness than those in smaller companies. This leads to the perspective amongst many managers’ that IPR only benefits large companies.
• Both design managers and designers themselves value imitation highly, which is considered distinct from plagiarism or infringement. Both also agree that IPR enforcement in China should be strengthened to better protect creative designs.
• Ethical beliefs and ethical climates help influence people’s attitudes towards IPR; in particular, managers’ beliefs are influential over their staff. The study also notes that Confucianism is epitomised as a core ethical belief amongst participants.
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
• Promoting Chinese cultural values (e.g. Confucianism) helps develop internalised respect for IPR and enhances the effectiveness of IPR protection.
• Promoting awareness of IPR in general (e.g. through public awareness campaigns) may enhance overall attitudes towards IPR in the creative industries.
• More co-ordination is required between the central government and local governments, which is highlighted by diverging views of professionals across different regions.
Coverage of Study
Datasets
| Sample size: | 49 |
| Level of aggregation: | Design Professionals |
| Period of material under study: | Unknown |
