The proliferation of e-commerce, game, and social networking sites, has brought to light the use of “dark patterns” or, more generally, manipulative designs (MDs), which exploit psychological effects and cognitive biases of users to channel their behavior toward outcomes that benefit the company or owner of the site, against the users’ best interests. Previous research has categorized MDs, assessed their impact on users, gauged their prevalence, and attempted automated detection using computer vision and natural language processing techniques. However, limited attention has been given to understanding how to warn and educate users about MDs, guiding them to recognize and resist such manipulative tactics.
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Drivers and persuasive strategies to influence user intention to learn about manipulative design
This study showcases the potential of a persuasive intervention, illustrating how mobile app distribution platforms can enhance user protection against MD exploitation and boost accountability and transparency of applications existing on their platform, and MD awareness among their users.