Dark Patterns in Indian Quick Commerce Apps: A Student Perspective
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866917380887674880 |
|---|---|
| author | Taneja, Tanish Tripathy, Arihant Rangaswamy, Nimmi |
| author_facet | Taneja, Tanish Tripathy, Arihant Rangaswamy, Nimmi |
| contents | As quick commerce (Q-Commerce) platforms in India redefine urban consumption, the use of deceptive design dark patterns to inflate order values has become a systemic concern. This paper investigates the 'Awareness-Action Gap' among Indian university students, a demographic characterized by high digital fluency yet significant financial constraints. Using a qualitative approach with 16 participants, we explore how temporal pressures and convenience-driven architectures override price sensitivity. Our findings reveal that while students recognize manipulative UI tactics, they frequently succumb to them due to induced cognitive load and the normalization of deceptive marketing as a price of capitalism. We conclude by suggesting value-sensitive design alternatives to align commercial incentives with user autonomy in the Global South. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_02257 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Dark Patterns in Indian Quick Commerce Apps: A Student Perspective Taneja, Tanish Tripathy, Arihant Rangaswamy, Nimmi Human-Computer Interaction As quick commerce (Q-Commerce) platforms in India redefine urban consumption, the use of deceptive design dark patterns to inflate order values has become a systemic concern. This paper investigates the 'Awareness-Action Gap' among Indian university students, a demographic characterized by high digital fluency yet significant financial constraints. Using a qualitative approach with 16 participants, we explore how temporal pressures and convenience-driven architectures override price sensitivity. Our findings reveal that while students recognize manipulative UI tactics, they frequently succumb to them due to induced cognitive load and the normalization of deceptive marketing as a price of capitalism. We conclude by suggesting value-sensitive design alternatives to align commercial incentives with user autonomy in the Global South. |
| title | Dark Patterns in Indian Quick Commerce Apps: A Student Perspective |
| topic | Human-Computer Interaction |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.02257 |