Consumer manipulation – a definition, classification and future research agenda
| Date | 03 December 2024 |
| Pages | 14-31 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-09-2023-0119 |
| Published date | 03 December 2024 |
| Author | Janis Witte |
Consumer manipulation –a
definition, classification and future
research agenda
Janis Witte
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
Abstract
Purpose –Recently,manipulative techniques, such as dark patterns, are widely applied.However, there is a
need for clarification regarding these techniquesand related phenomena. In particular, there is still no clarity
about the terminology and conceptual basis of consumer manipulation. Thispaper aims to address this
shortcomingby introducing a definition and classification of consumermanipulation.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper takes a conceptual approach, drawingon existing literature
and establishedtheories to comprehend the phenomenonof consumer manipulation.
Findings –The paperproposes that consumer manipulationcomprises three dimensions:limited transparency,
perceived restriction of autonomy and the feeling of being tricked. This paper presents a classification of
different types of consumer manipulation and demonstrates how thesetypes can lead tovarying outcomes
based on the sourceof manipulation, changeability, reasonsfor perception and perception timing.Based on this
classification,research propositionsinformed by establishedtheories and conceptsare presented.
Originality/value –To the bestofthe author’s knowledge, this work representsa first attempt to address the
concept of consumer manipulation througha clear definition and classification. It is relevant for academics,
policymakersand practitioners since it facilitates informed discussionsand analyses of this concept. It benefits
companies by raising awareness of potentially overlooked consequences of manipulative tactics, while also
benefitingconsumers by reducing their exposure to manipulation.
Keywords Consumer behavior, Ethical marketing, Consumer manipulation, Dark patterns,
Ethics in e-commerce
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
One goal of consumer policy is to create a safe digital space, in which consumers’and their
rights are protected (European Commission, 2021). This is particularly important in digital
world’s day-to-day reality, where unethical behavior from organizations impacts consumer
decision-making. There, besideothers, the use of manipulativetechniques, for example,in the
form of exploiting human biases and heuristics, as well as new technologies for consumer
manipulation, is common for many companies (Luguri and Strahilevitz, 2021;Susser et al.,
2018). Toname a few, manipulativetechniques, such as the manipulationof reviews (Zhuang
et al.,2018), behavioral targeting(Murphy et al.,2013) and drip pricing (Rasch et al.,2020),
are widely used in the digital world, especially in e-commerce (e.g. Voi g tet al.,2021)and
© Janis Witte. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative
Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create
derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full
attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://
creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
JICES
23,1
14
Received8 September 2023
Revised8 S eptember2024
Accepted 17 November2024
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.23 No. 1, 2025
pp. 14-31
EmeraldPublishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-09-2023-0119
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1477-996X.htm
gaming (e.g. Søraker, 2016). As a consequence the term “dark patterns”has recently gained
popularity (e.g.Cara, 2019;Di Geronimo et al.,2020;Mathur et al.,2019). As Dark Patterns
are primarilyapplied to increase shareholderinstead of consumer value(Gray et al.,2018)the
phenomenonseems unethical (Sheth and Sisodia,2007).
Facing these developments, (consumer) policy makers and authorities initiated some
interventions. The European Commission recently passed the Digital Services Act and the
Digital Markets Act which among others aims at prohibiting the use of dark patterns
(European Parliament,2022a,2022b;BEUC, 2022). Even though the use of these techniques
is highly questionable from an ethical perspective (e.g. Gray et al., 2018), it is also
questionable if the use of manipulativepractices is beneficial from a business perspective.
From a company’s perspective, consumer manipulation has –on first sight –primarily
positive effects. It has been proven that manipulation –e.g. in form of dark patterns (Susser
et al.,2018)orsludges(Thaler, 2018)–leads to higher subscription rates (Luguri and
Strahilevitz, 2021;Thaler, 2018). Nevertheless, empirical research indicates that –in the long
run –this might back-fire (see e.g. Waltenrath, 2021; Voi g tet al.,2021.). A prominent example
for this is the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2016, in which the social network Facebook
manipulated their users during presidential elections in the USA. As a result, 44% of US-
Facebook-users between 18 and 29 years deleted their accounts after the manipulation became
public (LaMagna and Passy, 2018;Perrin, 2018). However, consumer manipulation occurs in
e-commerce as well. Consider for example buying flowers online and later on realizing that a
chargeable greeting card was added to your cart without notification (Lukoff et al., 2021).
However, despite initial and rare evidence from other research areas (e.g. legal; Susser et al.,
2018) about potential negative effects, to date, little is known about consumer’s reactions to
manipulations and the underlying mechanisms(Mor an, 2020).
It is unclear what is meant by the term “consumer manipulation”and which theoretical
mechanisms might drive its negative effects. This paper aims to clarify the concept of
“consumer manipulation”and is structured as follows: At first a definition of consumer
manipulation in the digital world will be presented, to deliver clear terminologyand
conceptual understanding. This includes a differentiation of consumer manipulation from
related terms, such as persuasionor nudging. Then a classification of consumer manipulation
will be suggested, which is followed by avenues for further research in form of several
propositions and the derivationof some implications for research as well as management.
By doing so, this paper adds to the existing body of literature of consumer manipulation
and dark patterns. Especially, this paper contributes to this researchstream by clarifying and
conceptualizing consumer manipulation. Hopefully, this will enable scholars and further
research to better examine this phenomenon.
Literature review
To date, there are very few articles in the literature dedicated to the topic of consumer
manipulation. Only Stranget al. (2015) and Li et al. (2021) contribute to the definition of the
term. Strang et al. (2015) define the term as “to control orplay upon by artful, unfair or
insidious means, especially to one’s own advantage”(Strang et al.,2015, p. 248). A more
implicit description of the term is provided by Li et al. (2021),who describe manipulation as
“users’concern that a social media platform may intentionally mislead them through means
such as providing vague or partial information”(Li et al.,2021, p. 7). Other articles use the
concept of consumer manipulation to some extent, but do not directly define the term. For
example, Hietanen and Rajamäki (2018) classify subscription traps as a form of customer
manipulation.
Journal of
Information,
Communication
and Ethics in
Society
15
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