Dark patterns: the consequences & what you can do about them
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Swiss research shows that consumers are two to four times more likely to perform a certain action in an environment where dark patterns are used. What are they? Why do they work? And is it still relevant to encourage consumers to make impulse purchases?
What are dark patterns?
In the book ‘ Het koopinfuus ‘ Chantal Schinkels discusses the techniques and tricks used by online retailers to hook us up to the buying drip and advocates a new, ethical approach in the e-commerce sector. Dark patterns are elements in design and copy that are intended to make you do things you don’t really want to do. How often have you recently pressed an order button when you didn’t really want to?
Research among 11,000 webshops revealed 2,000 different dark patterns. Below you will find a list of the dark patterns with the most impact and the dark patterns that are explicitly mentioned in the study of the European Commission. It gives you a good idea of what dark patterns are.
Common dark patterns
Fake reviews
Social proof, such as online reviews, works well in selling products. Fake reviews can make a webshop seem trustworthy, even if it actually isn’t.
False hierarchy
Important information is visually omitted. Think of the absence of shipping costs. Or that the correctness in the cookie notification that you agree to is colored, but the button with ‘no’ is light gray, which makes you think that the button is not clickable.
Visual interference
This is often used in emails. Instead of placing the oman email list 2.7 million contact leads unsubscribe link somewhere visible, it is made invisible to prevent unsubscribers.
Limited time message
A timer that shows that a promotion is still valid for a certain time. This can cause you stress, which makes you more likely to decide to buy something.
Social pyramid friend spam
It asks for your friends’ email addresses or social media accounts, after which these friends are spammed with a certain offer. It is also known as refer-a-friend . You yourself receive discounts, money lead capture: the complete guide to getting more leads and delighting your sales team or free products as soon as one of your friends uses the offer.
Private sucking
You guessed it: named after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In alb directory the beginning, Facebook made it very difficult to check your privacy settings. Facebook has since changed that. Private Zuckering now mainly takes place behind the scenes. If you use a service such as a customer card, you can unknowingly agree to the small print, after which your data is sold to so-called ‘ data brokers ‘.
Activity messages
This is a typical example of social proof . You will see notifications about the activity in the webshop, such as the number of sales, views and visitors, or those pop-up notifications that someone from Utrecht bought the same product an hour ago. Or you will see that the product has been sold x number of times in the meantime. These activity messages give visitors the feeling that the webshop is reliable. After all, other visitors are making a purchase, but on the other hand they also create a feeling of scarcity. You might be too late!
Low stock message/high demand message
This indicates to visitors that there is low stock or that the product is in high demand and may soon be sold out.
Manipulative personalized communications and advertisements
Targeting ads based on personal preferences. Think for example of the ads of business coaches on social media that promise you 100,000 euros in turnover. Your search behavior is taken into account, but also who you follow.