Amazon fined in Poland for using dark patterns

Alleged using of dark patterns resulted in Pln 31 million fines for Amazon

The Polish competition authority fined Amazon for several practices which were unfair commercial practices according to the authority. Some of these were also called dark patterns in the press release (unfortunately no English version of the decision is available). Here is the statement from the press release:

“Consumers were misled by false information about product availability and delivery times. This is an unlawful practice of dark patterns. Upon order placement, a countdown timer may be displayed indicating when the product will reach the consumer, as long as they place the order with a certain time limit. The number of available items is also presented for some products (e.g., available items: 2; “Order within 2 hours 38 min.”). Information conveyed in this way puts pressure on the consumer to place an order as soon as possible to guarantee that they will receive the product. As the investigation has shown, Amazon fails to meet these deadlines for some orders. Shipping of some products is not possible or may be delayed, e.g., due to the fact that they are out of stock. Amazon treats the data it provides on availability and shipping date as indicative information, but the way it is presented does not indicate this. Consumers can only find out about this in the platform's terms of sale. 

“Information about the availability of a product and its fast shipping is very valuable for consumers and for many people it can be the main reason why they make a purchase decision. However, such information must not be a decoy. If a trader gives a specific delivery date, they must meet it. This practice by Amazon is categorised as ‘dark patterns’, as it uses pressure to make the consumer order the product as soon as possible”, says UOKiK President Tomasz Chróstny.”

We have once covered the FOMO (fear of missing out) / scarcity effect (see here).

The "Fear of Missing Out" (FOMO) heuristic is a psychological phenomenon where individuals experience anxiety or apprehension over the possibility of missing out on rewarding experiences that others might be having or missing a good opportunity. This heuristic plays a significant role in decision-making processes, often driving individuals to take actions that they believe will prevent them from missing out on something important or enjoyable.