PurposeTo analyze Chinese consumers in purchasing pirated software; to establish and empirically validate a model for analyzing consumers in software piracy; and to help software companies understand the software piracy issue in China and design anti‐piracy strategies.Design/methodology/approachA research model was established by extending a model used by Ang et al. in studying Singaporeans' purchasing pirated CD. A survey was conducted. Hypotheses were tested through stepwise regressions. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out to analyze Chinese consumers' attitude toward software piracy.FindingsFour personal and social factors were found important in influencing Chinese consumers' attitude toward software piracy, including value consciousness, normality susceptibility, novelty seeking, and collectivism. Five attitude measures, which were important in influencing consumer purchase intention, were identified as reliability of pirated software, recognized social benefits of piracy, functionality of pirated software, risks of purchasing, and perceived legality of purchasing. An exploratory study identified three attitude attributes.Research limitations/implicationsAs student samples were used, caution needs to be exercised when generalizing findings from this study. Regressions were used to test construct relationships in the model, and the model was not tested as a whole.Practical implicationsThis research provides an in‐depth understanding on Chinese consumers, and the research findings are useful in designing anti‐piracy strategies in China.Originality/valueThis research is one of the first to examine the Chinese market, which is a focus of piracy problems for the software industries. This research contributes to theory development in developing and testing a model and important constructs, and to industrial practice in providing understanding on Chinese consumers to help design anti‐piracy strategies.