Brands Deceive Consumers Online: What I learned after asking 500 people

Hey everyone! My team and I recently surveyed 536 folks about digital deception, and I wanted to share the main takeaways with you.

The complete research (with images) is here: https://www.bluelabellabs.com/blog/deceptive-dark-patterns-stats/

1) 24.4% have come across deceptive patterns in digital product design.

2) People found Delta Airlines and CNN the sneakiest among examples we provided.

3) 39.4% wouldn't hesitate to ditch a brand if they felt deceived by a product.

4) Top 5 deceptive companies mentioned: Amazon, Ryanair, YouTube, Verizon, and "Everywhere."

5) Millennials are the most "certain" when spotting deceptive patterns, but accuracy is similar across generations.

## Some Interesting Points:

- Deceptive patterns can be tough to pin down and depend on personal perceptions. - About a quarter of our respondents felt misled by marketing or design used by well-known brands. - Deceptive patterns seem to pop up in almost every industry.

## Notable Sneaky Brands:

Delta Airlines: They use a sly "modular pricing model" that adds unnecessary services and junk fees. CNN: Tricky UI elements that fool users into agreeing to their ToS.

## Partial or Slight Deceptions:

TurboTax: Their designs are a bit unclear, but they don't seem to have bad intentions. Dotloop: They have slightly deceptive pop-ups after signing documents. Spotify: Their downgrade/cancellation process is lengthy, but mostly straightforward.

In conclusion we should always remember that perception is everything. Businesses should be aware of how users interpret their designs to avoid driving them away.