제 23 호 DARK PATTERNS
Kicker: LIFE
Dark Patterns
By Ji-Won Choi, Cub Reporter
Nowadays, it is not only common for modern people to shop directly at the mart outside, but also to buy things online, such as Coupang. Have you ever experienced that before when shopping online? You may have experienced inconveniences such as the difficulty of finding a cancellation page after signing up for a fee on an app, or passing by important information because the letters are small or light in color. This is actually a way for brands to intentionally deceive users. This kind of technique, called dark pattern, is UX (user experience) that tricks users into making unintended choices.
Dark patterns are often broad and sophisticated, from obvious deception to everyday marketing. According to data released this month by the Korean delegation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), about half of consumers with a history of e-commerce purchases experienced dark pattern damage in 2020.
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What are the types of dark patterns? The Korea Fair Trade Commission's announced online dark pattern types can be divided into four main categories.
Pattern 1: Type of Fraud
Fraud types include hidden renewal and sequential public pricing. Hidden renewal is when a service is converted from free to paid or when the payment amount increases, the contract is automatically renewed without separate consent or guidance to the consumer, and the amount is automatically paid. Most subscription services, such as Netflix and Apple TV, have introduced this type.
Second, the price was marked low on the first page of the product search results, but it gradually showed a hidden price, and later charged the final price for all of them.
Pattern 2: Type of Misleading
Misleading types include false recommendations, incorrect hierarchical structure, and pre-selection of specific options. The first is to delete unfavorable reviews or to falsely write favorable reviews. In the delivery app 'Baedal Minjok', there was a case that 114,000 false reviews were detected and blocked.
Second, items that are disadvantageous to consumers or advantageous to business operators are visually displayed. This makes the consumer misunderstand it as if they must choose it. Third, it selects options that are advantageous to business operators in advance, such as membership subscription, and encourages consumers to pass them inadvertently, allowing them to accept them as they are.
Pattern 3: Type of Interference
Interference types include cancellation, interference with withdrawal, and hidden information. The first complicates procedures such as cancellation, termination, and withdrawal rather than purchasing, contracting, and membership registration, thereby hindering the free cancellation, termination, and withdrawal of consumers. The second omits and reduces important information necessary for product purchase decisions, making it difficult for consumers to know. Lastly, when consumers choose an advantageous option or obtain the desired information, it requires a lot of clicks. This encourages consumers to feel tired and give up choosing options or collecting information that is favorable to them.
Pattern 4: Type of Pressure
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Finally, pressure types include repeated interference, emotional language use, and low inventory notifications. They psychologically pressure consumers to induce them to perform the desired behavior.
Repeated interference is an act of repeatedly requesting a specific action through a pop-up window, etc. to pressure consumers to perform the action. In the middle of cancellation and refund, unnecessary pop-ups continue to appear. In the process, consumers sometimes give up cancellation or requesting a refund because they make a mistake or feel bothered. This frequently appears in the process of canceling and refunding digital sound source services.
Emotional language uses emotional language expressions that stimulate emotions such as "giving up benefits" and "buying expensive" to pressure consumers' behavior.
Low inventory notifications pressure consumers to make decisions by indicating that they are out of stock or in high demand.
How are countries around the world responding to dark patterns? As digital transformation accelerated after the COVID-19 pandemic, and e-commerce increased, dark patterns began to attract attention. In fact, most of the topics discussed at the OECD Committee of Consumer Policy(CCP) were related to e-commerce. Among them, discussions on dark patterns were the most active. The OECD CCP presented guidelines for dark patterns. It will also promote a global awareness campaign which will spread the core message, “Think Before You Click!” through social media.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered consumers or companies? to quantify and compensate for the time wasted because of dark patterns after announcing that it sees the top priority of its work as dark patterns.
The EU's Digital Services Act prohibits making it difficult to cancel regular subscriptions or distorting consumers' choices through pop-up windows.
Israel has banned all online transactions from setting consumer consent as the default.
However, it is important not only to regulate countries, but also to change consumers' own perceptions. To avoid being deceived by dark patterns, you must understand and recognize the types of dark patterns. It is also important to make a habit of making decisions after carefully examining information. If you let your guard down, you can make an unplanned purchase in a dark pattern. This is a capability that is necessary for all of us living in the digital age and for rational consumption.
Sources:
https://m.kmib.co.kr/view.asp?arcid=0016601446
한국소비자원, 온라인쇼핑몰의다크패턴실태조사보도자료, 2023
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