This article's objective is to investigate the awareness and social representations of consumers in a piracy network, and to forward an alternative strategic principle to fight this illegal form of commerce, taking the network model with the inclusion of the consumer as its departing point. Its basic assertion is that piracy can be understood to be organized according to a network, where the consumer is an important actor, who upholds the net due to his specific perceptions and social representations about the government, the products' manufacturers, the camelôs (street vendors), and about himself. These perceptions include themes that are beyond price, that is the most surveyed variable in this domain. This work is supported by the social network theory, that makes up the big picture where business networks are included, involving the notions of interdependence, commitment, expectations, social representations, as well as the concept of the "tie", which is the study unit that constitutes the network. A focus group survey was conducted with adolescents and adults, where it has become evident the perception of positive social representations relative to piracy, that is the camelô, while the government and the companies that fight piracy have been portrayed negatively. In this work's conclusions, it is shown that there is a gain in comprehension of the situation when the consumer is included in the network picture, in relation to the pirate commerce preservation, as well as to the combat strategies. In an important parallel conclusion, and considering the less than expected results on the government's part in the fight against piracy, it is suggested a strategic principle that flows from social networks. The assumption of this proposal is that it is only possible to fight a network from the perspective of another one, as it is stated in examples of social and business organizations.
Consumer; Piracy; Networks; Strategies of combat; Perceptions
