Find the real total, and refuse to be hurried
Recognize every trick a shopping page uses to hurry you, and have a way of comparing that ignores all of them.
You will recognize every trick a shopping page uses to hurry you, and have a way of comparing that ignores all of them.
Key points
- Timers, stock counts and “people viewing” are usually manufactured urgency
- Compare the total price, for the same item, at more than one seller
- Comparison sites are paid, and a hotel’s own line is often the cheapest
What to remember
- A dark pattern is a design that nudges you into something you did not intend. Naming them is most of the defense.
- Compare the total you would actually pay, on the day you would actually go.
- Whenever you feel hurried, that feeling was manufactured, and it is a reason to slow down.
Try this
Find a page with a countdown timer on it and reload it. And for anything substantial, look at Consumer Reports — independent, funded by subscribers rather than advertisers, and free to read at a great many public libraries.
Practice: Find the real total, and refuse to be hurried. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.