An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Examination of Legal and Ethical Aspects of Advertising

Abstract

Dark patterns are design techniques that aim to manipulate people’s behaviour by influencing their decisions, increasing the amount of time they use apps and the number of purchases they make in the future. Dark patterns often exploit users’ weaknesses without their attention or awareness. They raise serious ethical and legal issues, so it is important for designers and developers to understand how they affect people. The aim of this study is to identify dark patterns, measure their impact, and examine ethical issues. The results of this research can help designers and developers to create user-friendly and ethical applications. According to the interdisciplinary approach, there is a close connection between advertising law and dark patterns. The use of dark patterns often raises ethical and legal issues, which are regulated by the Advertising Act. The legal framework of advertising determines how content advertising can be made and how people’s behaviour can be influenced. The use of dark patterns is often against ethical and legal regulations, so it is important that the legal framework of advertising properly regulates the use of dark patterns.