Dark Patterns in e-Commerce

Consumer being manipulated

I’ve previously discussed shady sales practices, like a “fake ‘flash sale’ count-down that gives the impression the deal you’re seeing will be gone soon, creating a sense of urgency,” or linking to the Medium article How Online Flash Sales Hack Your Brain in describing my annoyance with “Amazon’s ‘lightning deal’ thing [where you’re pressured to] take advantage within 8 hours or whatever, and then you have 15 minutes to check out...” TIL there’s a term for them: dark patterns (src).

Derila's website is a minefield of dark patterns, a coercive marketing technique designed to trick online customers into making choices they don't intend to. 

Dark patterns can include 'scarcity cues' such as countdown timers or warnings of low stock or expiring discounts. Or they can be 'activity notifications', where you're told with a sense or urgency, for instance, that someone just bought the item you're considering.

A bit of web searching reveals the term is pretty universal, and has been around for a while; I guess I was just kinda clueless?

• Who Uses Dark Patterns? A Breakdown Of E-Commerce Bad Practices, Forbes, March 27, 2024
• FTC Report Shows Rise in Sophisticated Dark Patterns Designed to Trick and Trap Consumers, FTC, September 15, 2022
• Dark Patterns: UChicago/Princeton Research Reveals the Dirty Tricks of Online Shopping, University of Chicago, November 26, 2019

&c.