Exposing Deceptive Tactics

The Advanced Study Institute of Asia (ASIA) has released a report titled “Prime [D] to Buy: Flash Sales and Deceptive Design” that explores the use of dark patterns in e-commerce flash sales by digital platforms, impacting millions of consumers in India. According to the report, manipulative practices such as artificial urgency, gamification, scarcity and pricing discrimination are being used by e-commerce platforms.