Deceptive Advertising in E-Commerce | What is it’s role in a technology-based world?

Ever since the beginning of human history, people have been involved with trading goods and exchanging products.  Most likely it all started by way of bartering, that is direct exchange of goods and services without using money and all the way to today when you can buy virtually anything using the web.  Companies try to increase their revenue and profit by maximizing their sales using various techniques. We all have heard of commercials in radio and TV companies advertise their products to promote brand recognition.  With the advent of the web, new ways and methods of product promotion have appeared. The web has made it much easier to reach more people and sell more products.  The companies have realized that in order to be ahead of the competition, they will need to come up with new methods to sell their products more efficiently. Unfortunately, like many other things, some individuals and companies resort to falsehoods and deceptive advertising. But not all methods of advertising are deceptive. Examples using legitimate methods of advertising are abundant. Using clear and concise description of the product, using high resolution photos and videos to display the products, limited time offers, customer testimonials or reviews, free shipping, e-messaging availability and customer support hassle free return policy to name a few.  Deceptive advertisement methods in e-commerce are as numerous as the honest ones: 

For quite some time e-commerce companies have been using a  method, collectively, called “Dark Patterns”. This term was coined by Harry Brignull, a cognitive scientist and a designer who has been trying to expose these deceptive advertisements. What are Dark Patterns? It is a method(s) by which the website designer manipulates the consumer to make decisions that would not be in their best interest and would not have made that decision in an otherwise normal circumstance. There are many types of Dark Pattern method: 

• Fake Scarcity: By using verbiage indicating falsely the product will soon run out in order to entice customers to purchase as soon as possible. 
• Urgency: Falsely claiming that special offer is expiring soon or is in high demand
• Disguised ads: The consumer mistakenly clicks on a completely different advertisement interface
• Comparison Prevention: By making the descriptions confusing, consumers can not compare products. 
• Confirmshaming: Emotionally manipulating the consumer to do something they would not have done otherwise

• Manipulative wording: Using exaggeration in sentences  to falsely make the product look better than what it is.
• Hidden Costs: These costs usually are seen added at the last page before purchasing which may include extra fees for various excuses. 
• Fake Reviews: I would say this is one of the most dishonest methods to fool consumers to purchase products.  
• Bait-and-Switch: This old trick never goes away.  They offer you something cheaper and they switch it with another expensive product. 
• Deceptive Comparisons: Truth can be distorted easily by comparing products in a manipulative fashion .
• Unsubstantiated Claims: Exaggerate or just lie about a product’s benefits and uses
• Dishonest Subscription Models: Enrolling customers in subscription services without their clear consent can lead to unexpected charges.

Other methods worthy of mention are, making the orders hard to cancel, nagging (interrupting the consumer by presenting new pages to click on), pre-selection, sneaking (hiding pertinent information), trick wording (confusing wording) and many, many more.

In conclusion, deceptive advertising is a serious problem that can have a negative impact on consumers. There are some steps consumers can take to reduce or even avoid getting influenced by such tactics. Always be on full alert and take advertisements wording with a grain of salt. Compare prices at different websites. Read the reviews, and be suspicious of productions with a high percentage of 5 stars. Ask questions and use reputable websites. Bottom line, use common sense…