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The influence of Dark Patterns on users’ attitudes and behaviours: A classification based on the FCB grid

Funes Albanese, Lucila

(2022)

Details

Supervisors

De Moerloose, Chantal

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [60] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

Dark Patterns have been identified in 2010 and they have been thoroughly studied within UX and cognitive sciences. These deceptive designs are built from marketing techniques such as retail deceptive practices, nudging techniques and growth-hacking bases. Their goal is to make users perform actions they never intended on doing. They have three main objectives: to get users to spend more time on their platforms, to get users to spend more money on their offers and to make users share more information and data about themselves that they do not need to share. Dark Patterns will either directly force and impose these actions, or they will manipulate and influence users to perform these actions. More often than not, these patterns will make users perform actions that will go against their best interest. These deceptive designs can even generate negative feelings and emotions on users, and can even generate great backlash. These patterns can make users’ trust, engagement and loyalty to the platform decline. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the dangers of employing them. This research aims to build a typology of the patterns inspired by the Foote, Cone and Belding grid. The objective is to figure how to adapt the FCB grid to study and classify the influence dark patterns have on users’ attitudes and behaviours? This classification will help to identify which patterns will force users perform certain actions and which will rather influence and manipulate users’ thinking processes or feelings. The grid can even help to identify the effects these deceptive designs can have on attitudes and behaviours of users who come across them.