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 taiwan cell phone number 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.