Friday, January 10, 2025

Data Sharing and Website Competition: The Role of Dark Patterns

Data Sharing and Website Competition: The Role of Dark Patterns

 

Andrey Fradkin

Boston University - Questrom School of Business

Chiara Farronato

Harvard University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Tesary Lin

Boston University

 

Abstract

Regulations like the GDPR require firms to obtain consumer consent before using data. In response, firms use interface designs to nudge consumers to share their data, commonly known as "dark patterns." We study the causal effects of these designs and how they vary across individuals and firms. To do so, we run a field experiment in which users download a browser extension that randomizes cookie consent interface designs as users browse the Internet. We find that, in the absence of dark patterns, consumers accept all cookies more than half of the time, and that dark patterns are effective to varying degrees at changing consumer choices. Hiding consent options behind an additional click is the most effective dark pattern, and designs that only manipulate visual elements (such as reordering or highlighting certain options) have smaller effects. We also detect heterogeneity in sharing across individuals and websites. Larger and better-known firms have moderately higher consent rates than other firms, giving them a slight competitive advantage. The effects of dark patterns versus neutral consent frames do not vary systematically across site popularity. We find no evidence that more pop-ups result in choice fatigue.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/antitrustprof_blog/2025/01/data-sharing-and-website-competition-the-role-of-dark-patterns.html

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