Growing competition in the field of e-commerce has led retailers to adopt different strategies to engage users and guide them through the digital buying process. Some retailers use digital nudges that aim to guide user through the shopping process. Some e-commerce sites have resorted to the use of dark patterns – user interface elements that manipulate the user into making a choice they might not have made, had they had the chance to choose freely.

This thesis has three research questions: 1.) What are dark patterns? 2.) Why do dark patterns work? 3.) Why are dark patterns used in e-commerce?

This thesis defines dark patterns as “intentional, deceptive design decisions that were made to take advantage of psychology, to manipulate the user into making decisions that were unintended and unwanted; creating value for the service that employs them”. There seems to be four factors that explain the effectiveness of dark patterns: technological, cognitive, social and motivational. Each of these factors is looked at in detail.

Dark patterns are widely used in e-commerce. The prevalence of dark patterns has created an industrial drift that has led to the adoption of dark patterns on a much larger scale. Dark patterns have also been used to promote customer engagement, which, in turn, has been associated with higher levels of economic success. Short deadlines and tight budgets have led designers to focus on creating a “happy path” that might not take into account the whole user experience, but instead focuses on filling shareholders’ goals. Lastly, some researchers argue that the prevalence of dark patterns can be accounted to the lack of ethics education in design curriculums.

This literature review aims to shine light on dark patterns and the reasons behind their use in e-commerce. It also argues why e-commerce retailers should not use dark patterns on their site and brings forth topics for future research.