BERLIN: We’ve all clicked on cookie banners that make it harder to opt out and easy to opt in – often through a large green button.
This is one of the dark patterns used by websites, deliberately designed elements on sites and in apps to steer consumers in a direction that primarily benefits the providers.
Such manipulative techniques are being used more and more frequently. They can lead us all to make hasty, ill-considered decisions, buy subscriptions we do not want or even share our sensitive data.
"It can be misleading if there appears to be only one path you can take,” says Parsya Baschiri, a legal expert at the Bremen Consumer Advice Centre in Germany, summing up the principle behind dark patterns.
To stay safe and avoid falling for them, take your time. In other words, look closely at who you are actually buying from, he says. Don’t tick the little boxes too quickly. Instead, check what you are actually agreeing to.
Enough time and no pressure
"Read the small print too,” says Baschiri. "Something that appears to be free may actually be a subscription.” A healthy dose of scepticism is called for with all these design elements, as dark patterns are intended to manipulate in the provider’s interest, he says. They often do so through pressure and apparent coercion.
"Companies want to sell and get you to consume as much as possible,” he says. Consider carefully before every purchase whether you really need what you want to buy.
Or, in the interests of sustainability, whether it always has to be the latest and most up-to-date.
Many unfazed by dark patterns
Online shoppers are certainly well aware of such dark patterns, a recent poll found. However, most say that such manipulative elements do not influence them.
The poll found most online shoppers (84%) do notice the warnings about limited availability. More than half of them (53%) say they are not swayed by this.
However, at least around one in six (16%) are more likely to buy after seeing such a warning, according to a representative survey by Bitkom Research for the German IT industry association Bitkom. – dpa
