If you are a Seller, Advertiser, or Platform offering goods and Services, it is time to revisit and if required change your marketing strategies and approach on e-commerce platforms.
The Department of Consumer Affairs published draft Guidelines on 07.09.2023 on the Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns seeking public comments/feedback and the final guidelines are awaited.
Let us understand, what constitutes a Dark Pattern. How Dark Patterns can mislead online users as the world becomes increasingly digital, online shopping has become a popular way for people to purchase goods and services.
The Guidelines define Dark Patterns as “any practices or deceptive design patterns using UI/UX (user interface/user experience) interactions on any platform; designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do; by subverting or impairing the consumer autonomy, decision making or choice; amounting to a misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights”.
In this article, we will explore some of the most common dark patterns identified by the guidelines and how to recognize them.
1. False Urgency: False urgency is a dark pattern that involves creating a sense of urgency or scarcity to mislead users into making an immediate purchase. This can be achieved by showing false popularity of a product or service, stating that quantities are more limited than they actually are, or by creating time-bound pressure to make a purchase.
For instance, presenting false data on high demand without appropriate context, such as “Only 2 rooms left! 30 others are looking at this right now,” is a form of false urgency.
2. Basket Sneaking: Basket sneaking is a dark pattern that involves adding additional items such as products, services, or donations to charity without the user’s consent, leading to an increase in the total amount payable by the user. This can be done by automatically adding paid ancillary services with a pre-ticked box or otherwise to the cart when a consumer is purchasing a product or service. However, the addition of free samples or providing complimentary services or necessary fees disclosed at the time of purchase is not considered basket sneaking.
3. Confirm Shaming: Confirm shaming is a dark pattern that involves using a phrase, video, audio, or any other means to create a sense of fear, shame, ridicule, or guilt in the mind of the user, nudging them to act in a certain way that results in the user purchasing a product or service from the platform or continuing a subscription of a service.
For instance, a platform for booking flight tickets uses the phrase “I will stay unsecured” when a user does not include insurance in their cart.
4. Forced Action: Forced action is a dark pattern that involves forcing a user into taking an action that would require the user to buy any additional goods or subscribe or sign up for an unrelated service to buy or subscribe to the product or service originally intended by the user.
For example, prohibiting a user from continuing with the use of the product or service for the consideration originally paid and contracted for, unless they upgrade for a higher rate or fee.
5. Subscription Trap: A subscription trap is a dark pattern that involves making cancellation of a paid subscription impossible or a complex and lengthy process, hiding the cancellation option for a subscription, forcing a user to provide payment details and/or authorization for auto debits for availing a free subscription, or making the instructions related to cancellation of subscription ambiguous, latent, confusing, cumbersome.
6. Interface Interference: Interface interference is a dark pattern that involves a design element that manipulates the user interface in ways that highlight certain specific information, while obscuring other relevant information relative to the other information, to misdirect a user from taking an action desired by them.
For example, designing a light-colored option for selecting “No” in response to a pop-up asking a user if they wish to make a purchase, concealing the cancellation symbol in tiny font, or changing the meaning of critical symbols to mean the opposite.
7. Bait and Switch: Bait and switch is a dark pattern that involves advertising a particular outcome based on the user’s action but deceptively serving an alternate outcome
For example, a seller offers a quality product at a cheap price but when the consumer is about to pay/buy, the seller states that the product is no longer available and instead offers a similar-looking product but more expensive.
8. Drip Pricing: Drip pricing is a dark pattern that involves the practice of displaying a low price upfront and gradually increasing the price by adding additional fees, such as taxes or shipping charges, during the checkout process. This can be misleading for users as they may not realize the true cost of the product until the end of the checkout process.
9. “Disguised advertisement” refers to the practice of presenting ads as other types of content, including user-generated content or news articles. This includes misleading ads, as defined by the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and the “Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022.”
10. “Nagging” is a dark pattern that overwhelms users with requests, information, options, or interruptions unrelated to their intended purchase of goods or services, disrupting the transaction. Examples include websites repeatedly prompting users to download their app, requesting phone numbers for supposed security purposes, and incessantly asking users to turn on notifications without the option to decline.
In a nutshell, dark patterns are deceptive tactics some businesses use to mislead online users into making purchases or taking actions they may not have intended to. By recognizing and avoiding these patterns, Businesses can avoid such Dark Patterns and users can make informed decisions and avoid falling victim to these tactics.
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