Unease, Ambivalence, and Endured Disloyalty in Japanese Consumer Experiences with Dark Commercial Patterns

Abstract

Dark commercial patterns and deceptive user interface (UI) designs (or DPs) trick consumers into actions that benefit the shareholders. The legal and ethical implications of DPs are shaped by the sociocultural context. Special types of DPs exist in Japan, but the impact of these DPs on consumer attitudes and behaviour remains underexplored. We report on the first comparative mixed methods user study with Japanese consumers (N = 84), half of whom (n = 40) experienced a range of DPs---including the Japanese varieties---in a simulated e-commerce website. We discovered that the Japanese DPs were among the least noticeable and caused the highest simulated financial harm, with Untranslation perceived as highly disruptive and Alphabet Soup highly deceptive. Comparative analyses with a group that experienced the DP-free version of the online store (N = 44) revealed a sharp negative difference in positive emotions and acceptance. Qualitative analyses surfaced cultural norms in consumer-business relationships, notably unease, ambivalence, and endured disloyalty (fuseijitsu). No evidence of sampling biases was found for the participants involved in a publicly broadcast programme on the study (n = 10), indicating true deception and unacceptability. Our findings suggest that while reactions toward and ability to recognize a given DP may vary across individuals, the mere presence of DPs tends to have negative effects on most Japanese consumers.