Dark Patterns and Cognitive Biases in Digital Marketing: an Empirical Study on Confirmshaming

In the past few decades, the rapid growth of digital marketing has led to a profound change in the relationship between sellers and consumers, as well as in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Online interfaces no longer serve merely as a secondary means of communication for companies; rather, they have increasingly developed into real online environments, in which all marketing processes take place. In this context, websites have been designed to guide consumers’ behaviour online, as even small modifications to the presentation of information can lead to significant changes in consumers’ purchasing decisions. However, this mechanism has increasingly been leveraged by companies and sellers online to maximise profits at the expense of consumers’ interests. The present study aims to provide a detailed description of the so-called dark patterns, namely interface techniques that can be manipulative or deceptive and limit the users' freedom of choice. In addition, it explores how dark patterns are typically effective by drawing on the field of behavioural economics, an interdisciplinary field in which economics, together with psychology, studies people’s decision–making processes from the point of view of the cognitive system. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that decisions are influenced by several factors, including cognitive limitations intrinsic to human nature and the emotional sphere. The thesis is structured as follows: the first chapter provides a theoretical framework on dark patterns, including a taxonomy of the most popular ones, together with real examples; the second chapter illustrates the shift from traditional to behavioural economics, as well as the fundamental concepts of heuristics and cognitive biases and, finally, a taxonomy of biases exploited by the dark patterns presented in the first chapter. The last chapter of this thesis is based on an empirical study focused on the effectiveness of the Confirmshaming pattern, which involves influencing purchasing choices by triggering uncomfortable emotions. In particular, a survey was developed in two versions: the first includes a neutral interface, whereas the second includes an option framed with Confirmshaming. The responses are then compared to observe whether the interface with Confirmshaming reduces the likelihood that participants choose the declining option, and to understand the extent to which the emotional sphere is involved. Results show that the interface with Confirmshaming significantly increases participants’ likelihood of choosing the acceptance option. The findings also suggest that this effect occurs with greater guilt elicited by the wording of the declining option, indicating a psychological mechanism consistent with the theoretical framework provided in the first chapters. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying online interfaces, in order to raise consumers’ awareness of unethical aspects of digital marketing. This connection between research on dark patterns and the field of behavioural economics offers a useful perspective for understanding how intrinsic cognitive processes can be exploited through the interface design. The findings of the empirical study also underline the importance of considering the emotional dimension of decision-making when evaluating and regulating manipulative interface design. As digital environments constantly evolve, this area of research plays a key role in helping users recognise potentially manipulative or deceptive practices, make more informed choices and navigate the Internet in a more conscious and autonomous way.