Because theory-based research can provide a better understanding of the psychological motivations and reasons why college students intend to engage in illegal digital downloading, this project is conducted from the perspectives of the theory of planned behavior, attitude functional theory and the social norms approach. Based on a survey of 552 college students, results revealed that students who believed that illegal downloading would help save money and was convenient and those who did not want to be termed as being afraid of risk were more likely to download illegally, whereas those who had illegality concerns and high moral standards were less likely to download illegally. In addition, perceived social approval for downloading, but not the perceived frequency of others’ downloading behaviors, predicted intentions to download. This study argues that the integration of the three theoretical frameworks provides more meaningful, yet parsimonious guidance for designing antipiracy campaigns.
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