They infest the Internet. They are everywhere in grocery stores. THE ” dark patterns », “rigged interfaces” in French, provoke specific behavior which is often contrary to the wishes of consumers. They are not illegal, but dishonest. And it works.
If you subscribed to Amazon Prime before Christmas to benefit from expedited and free delivery of your gifts, you will notice, if you want to unsubscribe, that it is much more difficult. Amazon is an expert in fake interfaces. It encourages its customers to have certain behaviors (spending more and more often) and discourages others (leaving their loyalty program).
Amazon is just the tip of the tree. This phenomenon is so widespread that, nowadays, we find it banal, even normal, even if it leads us to pay more, even too much, and to overconsume for no other reason than because certain icons are more attractive than others. others on the screen of our mobiles.
False luck
Quebec Internet users are being invited these days by the Chinese discount sales site Temu to spin a lucky roulette on their computer screen which could earn them a discount of up to 50% of the price of the item displayed.
Strangely, this roulette, in reality not so lucky, reacts in the same way every time: it lands on “Try a second time”, then on the biggest discount offered, which is 50%. Imagine the luck it takes to get this same result every time!
The catch: the only way to take advantage of this discount is to download the Temu mobile application. You cannot complete the transaction through their website.
It turns out that an application installed on a mobile phone allows its creator to collect much more personal information about its users than a simple website. In another one of those coincidences that aren’t really coincidences, Google removed the Temu app from its Play Store app store for a few weeks in 2023 because it didn’t respect its limits on the collection of personal information.
Since then, critics have expressed concern that the application — which would lose money on each purchase that Canadian and American consumers make on its platform — would continue to collect personal information beyond the limits of Google and ‘Apple. It would then resell them to third parties, which is its real business model.
To the grocery store
All this is not a coincidence, obviously. And nothing is illegal. But that’s misleading. And it’s anything but trivial.
“We play on emotions to force the user to consent in spite of themselves to a certain behavior,” summarizes Montreal lawyer Clément Camion, founder of En clair, an organization whose mission is to simplify and humanize transactions for help “destroy” misleading interfaces.
Because these interfaces are everywhere. Payment terminals that offer to add a tip of 18, 20 or 25% (after taxes) for a transaction that did not require one before the pandemic? Rigged interface.
And it works, continues Mr. Camion. “We did tests in France and we discovered that it was incredible, the impact of these interfaces,” he says. We wonder if people really consented to what was presented to them. »
Grocery store prices? Another rigged interface. We are seeing more and more labels displaying a reduced price on items purchased in bulk. Two chickens for $15.99. The bargain! These labels indicate in smaller print that the price paid will be higher if these items are purchased individually. Single chicken: $8.99. This is the same strategy that grocers use to promote their loyalty programs. The price of this same chicken for members: $8.49!
If your family budget (or your appetite…) allows you to buy two chickens at a time, or to buy a smartphone, install the grocer’s application and benefit from its loyalty program, no issue.
But you spend more.
And if you have to tighten your belt to make ends meet, this system excludes you.
Some merchants don’t like picky customers. This is not good for their profit margin. Stock market investors consider the increase in this margin as a sign of financial health. It is this indicator which ultimately determines the remuneration of the senior managers of these companies.
There is no coincidence there either.
The abandoned consumer
Elected officials had tea earlier this fall with the CEOs of major grocers to convince them to lower their prices. They then praised the effectiveness of their power of influence. We represent 40 million Canadian consumers, they will listen to us…
However, the real solution lies elsewhere. It already exists. It just needs to be dusted.
In Quebec, the Consumer Protection Act only needs an update to discourage rigged interfaces. At the federal level, it is the Competition Act that could explicitly order a more balanced display of prices and subscription or unsubscription options.
“The Consumer Protection Act is lagging behind the digital economy, like the federal Competition Act,” says Clément Camion.
Two governments for the price of one, and which are slow to really defend the citizen? Another rigged interface.