Regulation and digital activities - Next session

Speaker: Francesco Bogliacino - Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Paper: The Transaction Test: an experimental method for assessing online interfaces

Abstract: This article introduces the transaction test, a novel experimental method to detect whether a website customization can be deceptive. The method measures changes in choice inconsistency with respect to a plain design. In a highly powered online experiment, we assess three dark patterns and one transparency-based remedy in decisions involving data protection. Compared to a placebo condition, dark patterns increase the likelihood of choice inconsistency by an effect in the range of 6-12 percentage points, depending on experimental conditions. The transparency-based remedy fails to mitigate these effects. A second study implements the transaction test in a market experiment. Here, one of the treatments from the online experiment increases inconsistency by 42 pp. Two additional deceptive designs are tested, respectively favoring consistent and inconsistent choices. The Dark Pattern version raises inconsistency by 18 pp while the Bright Pattern reduces it by 15 pp. Our findings demonstrate how the transaction test, by providing an empirical assessment of the legal concept of unfairness, offers a flexible tool for the regulation of dark patterns and other commercial practices.

Relevant information:

• Here the Microsoft Teams link. The session will cover 90 minutes (questions and answers included).
• The working group is part of the activities of the Governance and Regulation Chair at Paris Dauphine-PSL University. The group meets once in two weeks to discuss, share, and present working papers and/or ideas surrounding recent developments in the domain of platform regulation. We have both internal and external presenters to share their work.
• If you would like to present your work or have anyone in mind to present, please send an email to lucas.eustache@dauphine.psl.eu or damien.mayaux@dauphine.psl.eu.