Does it work because you're taking advantage of a group of people who are extremely vulnerable to manipulation? People who already struggle with impulse control, who are prone to making bad financial decisions? The elderly, kids?
We have to escape this mentality that anything that makes money is valid, that the money itself is the validation of "rightness".
Some of us, just some think that maybe enterprises that prey on the vulnerable just don't deserve to be in business. Otherwise everything might as well be payday loans and online gambling. I'm not saying OP is definitely in that category, but I would encourage them to think long and hard about weather or not using dark patterns to goose their sales is really the kind of world we want to be fostering.
Well, if you own an online casino, I guess your moral compass is already so skewed that you simple don't care. On the other hand, if you own an online mom & pop store that sells clothes for puppies, you rationalize that the impact of those manipulations is not that big of a deal. You're not ruining anyone's live by the single act of persuading them to purchase $100 worth of apparel for mr. pancake.
I agree with you too, but I don't think it's necessarily a gross over-exaggeration: it's possible that the majority of the buying population are extremely vulnerable to manipulation.
"Average" doesn't necessarily mean half way between two extremes - the average human might actually be all of:
- extremely vulnerable to manipulation
- struggling with impulse control
- prone to making bad financial decisions
- the elderly / kids (<16/>60)
Based on age demographics, rampant consumerism and social media addiction, especially in those age demographics, I'd be more inclined to guess the average human is all of those things.
> We have to escape this mentality that anything that makes money is valid, that the money itself is the validation of "rightness".
I agree. But.
I run an online business. It's tough. I scrape by. GP noted that the skeezy popup "Boosted conversion rate meaningfully". So that's real money in GP's pocket that they presumably use to have a nicer life. At what cost? Some popup? I mean…
Would I take more money in my pocket? Boy, I'd like that. So far I haven't gone the skeezy popup route, but the day I try, and more money ends up in my pocket, it's gonna be hard to turn that thing off.
Yeah, I mean at the end of the day there is clearly a spectrum of conversion rate optimizing stuff you can do, some of which is fine and some of which is unethical. A/B testing the color of your add to cart button and using the one that converts best? I think it'd be a little crazy to argue that's unethical manipulation. Lying to customers about the product to get them to buy? Obviously bad.
Silly obnoxious social proof popup is clearly on the ethical side in my view (my issue was never ethics, just that I personally find them very annoying). I'm not misleading anyone (it does in fact show real purchases) or forcing anyone to do anything. If that's the difference between you buying or not, I still feel perfectly comfortable that you made the choice of your own free will.
Does it work because you're taking advantage of a group of people who are extremely vulnerable to manipulation? People who already struggle with impulse control, who are prone to making bad financial decisions? The elderly, kids?
We have to escape this mentality that anything that makes money is valid, that the money itself is the validation of "rightness".
Some of us, just some think that maybe enterprises that prey on the vulnerable just don't deserve to be in business. Otherwise everything might as well be payday loans and online gambling. I'm not saying OP is definitely in that category, but I would encourage them to think long and hard about weather or not using dark patterns to goose their sales is really the kind of world we want to be fostering.