Curl, jostle, tie: Lots of dark patterns in popular shopping apps

Social media platforms and online marketplaces continue to rely on manipulative or addictive designs when designing apps, criticizes the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv). According to the consumer advocates, they have examined a total of 18 apps from providers such as Temu, Amazon and Tiktok and identified such influencing design patterns, also known as "dark patterns".

The consumer advocates see the dark patterns discovered as violations of the EU's Digital Services Act and demand consequences for the providers: "The responsible authorities must now consistently enforce existing regulations. Otherwise the Digital Services Act will remain a toothless tiger", said Jutta Gurkmann, Head of Consumer Policy at vzbv. The EU's planned Digital Fairness Act should also be used to prevent such practices.

Push messages and gambling elements

Specifically, the Android apps from AliExpress, Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Instagram, Kaufland, LinkedIn, Mediamarkt, Otto, Pinterest, Shein, Snapchat, Temu, TikTok, X, Wish, YouTube and Zalando were put under the microscope - in a period from October 21 to December 4, 2024.

All of the providers had used so-called hyper-engaging dark patterns (HEDP) in their apps, which are intended to maximize the time spent on the platform and entice users to make purchases. These include intrusive notifications, mechanisms such as autoplay and infinite scroll or the use of gamification and gambling elements. This would exploit psychological mechanisms such as rewards, fear of loss or social pressure. This could encourage addictive behavior and have a negative impact on mental health, warns the vzbv. Children and young people are particularly susceptible to these mechanisms.

One particularly noticeable pattern is the excessive use of both push notifications and emails. The services Temu, Wish and Shein as well as social networks such as TikTok and Snapchat sent several notifications a day during the tests to give users the impression that they were missing out on something. The online stores also had countdowns and artificial shortages that created pressure. The Chinese providers Shein, Temu and Aliexpress, for example, rely on a mix of game elements and promotions under time pressure, which are constantly "pelting" at users and are intended to entice them to buy impulsively, according to the analysis.

This is not the first time that consumer advocates have tried to get to grips with online services' use of dark patterns: last year, the vzbv complained that platform operators such as Meta, Amazon, TikTok and Google were using manipulative designs to get users to agree to the most extensive possible pooling of personal data.

(axk)