“We have the impression of winning, when we are only spending”: what is this technique used by webmarchands so that we buy more clothes?
This is the same story: we always end up being fooled. The intrigue, you already know it. You go to the e-shop of a trendy brand, happy to buy the only clothing you want so much, then end up set off again the basket loaded with pieces that you care little about. This does not happen to compulsive buyers, no no.
The reason is simple: you fell into the tense trap and adopted the behavior expected by certain webmarchands. Because yes, in addition to exposing their clothes, the brands of Fast Fashion set up manipulation patterns to push us to (on) consume. Welcome to the world of “Dark patterns”said “misleading interfaces” in French.
Aliexpress,, Shein, Temu : Their platform is designed to encourage us to give in to the temptation of shopping right now. The first lever? THE feeling of urgency. According to all the manipulative signals they send us, it is therefore in our interest to buy this clothing immediately. Spoiler Alert : This is not necessarily the case.
“Mainly the elements that we identify as manipulation on websites, it will be all the elements that will create the emergency of purchase, so for example all that is timer” explains the expert in neuromarketing Olivia little to our colleagues from FranceTV Slash.
The timer is this famous stopwatch that you see appearing and that tells you that there is only 4 hours left before the promotion ends. You think it is a limited offer, that it is more than the time to buy, but when you go to this same site three days later, a similar offer has replaced it.
But Fast Fashion labels also reinforce this emergency side by playing on rarity: it is common to read on the file of a product “Last units”,, “Last piece”,, “More than 5”,, “Limited stock” To have the impression of missing something if we continue to resist. The problem ? False or true, this data is impossible to verify and it has already had its effect …
To further strengthen the purchase urgency, emotional manipulation can sometimes go further than that. Some giants as Shein Use a clever mix between “fear of missing something” (FOMO) and “feeling of exclusivity”. The goal? Pressing us while making us believe that we are privileged: “Special offers just for you”,, “New customers only!” … And the list is far from over.
In total, there would be 20 Dark patterns. Difficult to escape it because all the sales sites have adopted them. But you now know how to protect yourself!