Consumer says manipulative design tactics costing online Kiwi shoppers millions

Consumer says Kiwis shopping online are being tricked into spending more and cancelling less, with subscriptions being a particular problem. Photo / 123RF

One in three New Zealand shoppers spend more online than they intend to because of manipulative design tactics, according to Consumer NZ research.

The nationally representative research found Kiwis are being tricked into spending more and cancelling less.

These invisible “dark patterns” range from hidden fees and “only one left!” scarcity cues to countdown timers and endless subscription traps, all designed to cost shoppers time and money.

The research also found nearly one-quarter of people said they’ve kept a subscription longer than they wanted to due to confusing or obstructive cancellation processes. 

Chris Schulz, Consumer NZ’s senior investigative journalist, said the implications for online shoppers are huge.

“It would be conservative to say that dark patterns cost New Zealanders millions,” he said.

“Unfortunately, these tactics often fall into a legal grey area – exposing a major regulatory gap.”

The impact of these patterns is widely felt, with 93% of New Zealanders saying they had encountered scarcity cues like “only three tickets left at this price”, while three out of four people had discovered hidden fees at the checkout.

“Dark patterns are omnipresent with the online shopping experience,” Schulz said.

“To mitigate the threats posed by dark patterns, we’d like to see prioritisation of a general ban on unfair trading and strengthening of our privacy laws. New Zealand is currently unchecked and unregulated, and it’s New Zealanders who are paying the price.”

Consumer NZ said dark patterns may drive a business’ short-term profits or boost data collection, but they erode long-term trust with customers. 

A recent case study asked research participants to cancel a HelloFresh subscription.

The five-step process took several minutes to complete, and participants encountered a variety of dark patterns along the way.

One person told Consumer trying to unsubscribe was such a woeful experience, she wouldn’t touch the business again with a barge pole.

“Given how frustrating it can be to cancel a subscription like HelloFresh, we weren’t surprised to find that one-quarter of New Zealanders kept a subscription longer than they intended to because of a dark pattern,” Schulz said.

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