Dark Patterns, Purchase Regret and Brand Trust: How Deceptive Digital Design Erodes Consumer Brand Relationships

Abstract

Background and Objective: The widespread deployment of dark patterns deliberately deceptive user-interface design techniques embedded within digital purchase environments has emerged as a significant concern for consumers, regulators and brand managers alike. Despite a growing body of regulatory attention, the downstream psychological consequences of such practices for consumer well-being and long-term brand equity remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates the mechanisms through which dark-pattern awareness triggers purchase regret and, in turn, progressively erodes consumer brand trust, while simultaneously examining the boundary conditions imposed by individual-level digital literacy and contextual regulatory salience.
Methods: Two pre-registered studies were conducted. Study 1 (N = 487; online experiment, United States adults) employed a 2 (dark-pattern exposure: present vs. absent) × 2 (digital literacy: high vs. low) between-subjects factorial design. Study 2 (N = 341; two-wave longitudinal survey, United Kingdom adults) examined authentic brand interactions over an eight-week period, incorporating a regulatory-salience manipulation at Time 2. Moderated mediation was tested using the PROCESS macro (Model 14) in SPSS.
Results: Dark-pattern awareness significantly predicted purchase regret (β = .61, p < .001), which in turn negatively predicted brand trust (β = −.48, p < .001). Digital literacy moderated the awareness–regret relationship (β = −.27, p = .003), with high-literacy consumers paradoxically experiencing amplified regret. Regulatory salience strengthened the regret-to-distrust pathway. Brand trust fully mediated the path to reduced repurchase intent (β = .55, p < .001) and these effects replicated cross-nationally.
Conclusions: Deceptive digital design represents a self-defeating brand strategy. Short-term conversion gains achieved through dark patterns are systematically offset by lasting erosion of consumer trust and brand loyalty. These findings advance a regulatory-psychological model of dark-pattern harm with direct implications for platform governance, consumer education and ethical marketing practice.