Latest / The CMO Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Leadership, Budgets, and Executive Strategy / How CMOs Use Dark Patterns to Influence Consumer Choice
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk about something that every CMO wrestles with but few will admit on the record — dark patterns. Not the evil kind you see in sci-fi. I mean the design decisions that nudge you into clicking something you didn't really intend to. Luna: You mean like when you go to unsubscribe from a newsletter and the button says 'No, I love spam' in tiny gray text? That kind of thing? Lucas: Exactly that. The FTC actually held a workshop on dark patterns back in 2023 — they found that 76 percent of consumers had encountered some form of deceptive design in the previous year. And it's not just small shady sites. Big, respected brands do it too. Luna: Booking.com is the classic example. I remember seeing 'Only 1 room left!' when I was clearly browsing off-season in January. Lucas: Perfect case. Before about 2019, Booking.com was notorious for those scarcity cues — 'Booked 5 times in the last hour,' 'Someone is looking at this hotel right now.' They drove conversion like crazy. But then consumer backlash started hitting, and regulators in Europe began taking notice. Luna: So what happened? Did they stop? Lucas: They didn't stop entirely, but they dialed it back. They ran experiments showing that while scarcity messages boosted short-term bookings by about 8 percent, they also increased customer service calls by 12 percent — people panicked and booked the wrong room. So the net effect on profitability was actually negative. Luna: That's fascinating. The dark pattern was eroding trust and creating operational drag. But I bet a lot of CMOs still use them because the conversion lift looks good on the weekly dashboard. Lucas: Right — and that's the tension. A CMO under pressure to hit quarterly numbers sees that 8 percent lift and green-lights the pattern. They don't see the downstream costs. LinkedIn faced a class-action lawsuit a few years ago over its 'Add Connections' feature — where it would send multiple invitation reminders to people you hadn't explicitly approved. That's a dark pattern, and it cost them millions. Luna: And the thing is, consumers are getting smarter. There's a growing awareness — even mainstream articles now explain what dark patterns are. So using them in 2026 feels like a ticking time bomb. Lucas: Totally. And regulators are catching up. The EU's Digital Services Act explicitly bans deceptive interfaces. California's privacy regulations have language about not using dark patterns to get consent. The FTC has stepped up enforcement with cases against companies like Amazon for their cancellation flow. Luna: So what's the alternative? If you're a CMO and you need urgency, how do you get it without manipulation? Lucas: You lean into genuine scarcity. Limited editions that are actually limited. Flash sales with real countdowns. But you make sure the design is transparent — the user knows exactly what they're agreeing to. Apple's privacy labels are a good example of the opposite approach: they voluntarily show you exactly what data an app collects, even before you download it. That's pro-user design. Luna: And Apple has built a massive business on that trust. Their app store ecosystem relies on users feeling safe. So the ethical move can also be the profitable move long term. Lucas: Exactly. And look — if these conversations about marketing ethics and strategy have sparked ideas that you've actually used in your own work, that's exactly why we keep this show ad-free. We want to keep having these honest, real-world discussions without sponsors pulling the strings. So if you find value in what we do, the best way to support us is a small contribution at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really helps us stay independent and keep digging into topics like this. Every bit goes straight into research and production. Lucas: Alright, back to dark patterns. One area I think is really interesting is how they show up in B2B software. Enterprise sales cycles are long, so the manipulation is more subtle. Luna: Like what? I'm picturing those 'free trial' sign-ups that automatically convert to paid unless you call a phone number and talk to someone. Lucas: Exactly. The roach motel pattern — easy to get in, hard to get out. Adobe faced backlash for years over cancellation fees and multi-step unsubscribes. They've since simplified the process, but old habits die hard. Luna: So what's the CMO's takeaway here? Should every brand do a dark pattern audit? Lucas: Absolutely. And not just a legal audit — a user-experience audit. Walk through your own sign-up, purchase, and cancellation flows as if you were a first-time customer. If you feel tricked, your customers do too. Luna: I've heard of companies hiring 'ethical UX' consultants to flag patterns. It's becoming a niche. Lucas: Right, and that's a good sign. The industry is starting to treat dark patterns as a risk management issue, not just a design choice. A single lawsuit or regulatory fine can wipe out years of conversion gains. Luna: Plus there's the reputational cost. In the age of social media, one viral thread about a dark pattern can tank a brand's trust overnight. Lucas: And trust takes years to rebuild. So my advice to any CMO listening: treat your user's choice architecture with the same care you treat your pricing strategy. It's not about being a saint — it's about being smart about long-term value. Luna: Well said. And maybe the smartest play is to make transparency your differentiator. Imagine a brand that says 'We will never use dark patterns — here's how we promise to treat you.' Lucas: That's actually happening. There's a small but growing movement called 'consentful design' — companies like Basecamp and ProtonMail have built their entire UX philosophy around it. They're not the biggest players, but their retention rates are insane. Luna: So perhaps the future of marketing isn't about tricking people into clicking. It's about respecting them enough that they want to stay. Lucas: That's the headline right there. Alright, Luna, good conversation. Let's see if any CMOs out there are brave enough to share their own dark pattern stories. Luna: Or maybe they'll start a new pattern: the honesty pattern. Lucas: I would subscribe to that.