Clear Choice
Buy Component, Is This My Choice?
The moment we press the buy button, we believe we are pressing it from our own free will. We assume that even your own calculation weighing the utility and cost of a particular product is the product of ration. However, this theoretical assumption of the "rational actor" is increasingly collapsing in today's digital environment. "Is this truly my own opinion?" By questioning the very origins of our consumption habits, I argue that what we perceive as personal preference may in fact be "manufactured consent", a concept shaped by the combination of information asymmetry and behavioral conditioning.
Goyens, Monique. “Using Behavioural Economics For Rather than Against Consumers – A Practitioner’s Perspective.” Intereconomics, n.d. https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2018/number/1/article/using-behavioural-economics-for-rather-than-against-consumers-a-practitioners-perspective.html.
Tang, Yao, Yannan Zhang, and Xianzhang Ning. 2023. “Uncertainty in the Platform Market: The Information Asymmetry Perspective.” Computers in Human Behavior 148 (August): 107918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.107918.
Paul, Naimy. 2025. “Smokescreens of Digital Markets—choice Manipulation and the Illusion of Consent.” Journal of European Competition Law & Practice 16 (3): 208–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeclap/lpaf050.
The first source of this distortion can be explained through George Akerlof's "Lemon Market" theory. Specifically in digital environments, the physical and psychological distance between buyers and sellers inevitably worsens information asymmetry. A prime example is the ultra-low-cost Chinese e-commerce platforms, Temu and Shein. Consumers are drawn in by low prices and make impulsive purchases, but this ultimately builds a system that encourages the mass production of low-quality goods to maximize corporate profit. When price alone becomes the consumer's only basis for judgment, the market spirals into the vicious cycle of the "lemon market," filling up with ever-lower-quality products. The second distortion is greenwashing. Companies stimulate consumers' desire for ethical consumption through marketing that projects an eco-friendly image, yet behind that facade lies information that is exaggerated or, worse, fabricated. This is also a form of ethical information asymmetry: consumers believe their choices are protecting the environment, when in reality they are being enlisted in a company's reputation laundering.
Izquierdo, Segismundo S., and Luis R. Izquierdo. 2007. “The Impact of Quality Uncertainty Without Asymmetric Information on Market Efficiency.” Journal of Business Research 60 (8): 858–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.02.010.
“Shein, Temu, and Chinese e-Commerce.” 2022. September 20, 2022. https://www.uscc.gov/research/shein-temu-and-chinese-e-commerce-data-risks-sourcing-violations-and-trade-loopholes.
Darshini, Deepa, and Aishwarya N. 2025. “Deceptive Environmental Marketing and Greenwashing: A Literature Review.” International Journal of Novel Research and Development 10 (6). https://doi.org/10.56975/ijnrd.v10i6.307818.
Today's digital marketplace strategically exploits the architecture of human cognition. According to psychologist Daniel Kahneman, human thinking operates in two modes: the fast, intuitive "System 1," and the slow, deliberate "System 2." Modern digital advertising leaves no room for calm reflection. It is designed to trigger immediate emotional responses before logical reasoning ever gets a chance to engage. The most prevalent tool for this is artificial scarcity; sellers hang up signs that read "at this price, only today" or "only 2 items left," and display countdown timers sprawling across the screen. These mechanisms make consumers feel as though they will lose something if they don't buy right now, even when supply is not actually limited. This is known as FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. Humans feel the fear of losing something far more acutely than the joy of gaining something, and companies precisely target this psychological vulnerability. In the end, the "purchase decision" made in that moment may not be a choice that comes from genuine desire; it is closer to a reflexive reaction triggered by an artificially manufactured sense of urgency. The fact that desire, even in the moment a consumer feels they genuinely want something, may have been engineered is why the psychological intervention of the digital marketplace cannot be taken lightly.
Krämer, Walter. 2013. “Kahneman, D. (2011): Thinking, Fast and Slow.” Statistical Papers 55 (3): 915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00362-013-0533-y.
Da Silva, Sergio. 2023. “System 1 Vs. System 2 Thinking.” Psych 5 (4): 1057–76. https://doi.org/10.3390/psych5040071.
Khetarpal, Mansi, and Sapna Singh. 2023. “‘Limited Time Offer’: Impact of Time Scarcity Messages on Consumer’s Impulse Purchase.” Journal of Promotion Management 30 (2): 282–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2023.2253228.
This project goes beyond critiquing unfair corporate marketing practices. We aim to create an environment in which consumers can make more genuinely informed decisions. Using machine learning to detect deceptive language and emotionally manipulative framing within advertisements is the first step toward helping consumers receive information as it actually is. It can give consumers a reason to pause and reflect before pressing the buy button. "Is this truly what I want?" Building an environment where people can answer that question for themselves; that is the direction this project seeks to contribute toward.
Is This Sense of Urgency Real? 'Dark Patterns'
Mathur, A., Acar, G., Friedman, M., Lucherini, E., Mayer, J., Chetty, M., & Narayanan, A. (2019). Dark Patterns at Scale: Findings from a Crawl of 11K Shopping Websites. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW).
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
From an economic perspective, this is an act that intentionally exacerbates information asymmetry in the market. Sellers have a precise understanding of consumers’ psychological response patterns, yet consumers remain unaware that they are being manipulated. A 2022 OECD report pointed out that dark patterns disproportionately harm those with low digital literacy. The fact that exploitation always targets those with less information and power demonstrates that this issue extends beyond mere marketing ethics to become a social problem.
OECD (2022). Dark Commercial Patterns. OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 336.
Brignull, H. (2010). Dark Patterns: Dirty Tricks Designers Use to Make People Do Things. 90percentofeverything.com.
Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Yale University Press.
Acquisti, A., Brandimarte, L., & Loewenstein, G. (2015). Privacy and Human Behavior in the Age of Information. Science, 347(6221), 509–514.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC). (2022). Bringing Dark Patterns to Light. FTC Staff Report.
Luguri, J., & Strahilevitz, L. J. (2021). Shining a Light on Dark Patterns. Journal of Legal Analysis, 13(1), 43–109.
Ultimately, dark patterns reveal that the market, which should guarantee consumers’ freedom of choice, is actually distorting that choice. Even the moment a consumer feels they want something, that desire and sense of urgency may themselves be engineered. This is precisely why we must view dark patterns not as mere inconveniences, but as structural problems. “Is this sense of urgency real?” Creating an environment where people can ask themselves that single question is the first step toward solving this problem.
The Illusion of Ethical Consumption: Greenwashing
“This product is made from eco-friendly materials.” When we see phrases like this, we’re willing to open our wallets even if the price is a bit higher. It’s because of the belief that we’re making environmentally conscious choices, and the sense of pride that comes from knowing our choices are making a small contribution to the world. But is that really true? Greenwashing is a corporate strategy that exploits consumer ethics to polish a company’s image. It is a form of marketing that misleads consumers by promoting an eco-friendly image without making any actual efforts to improve the environment. Consumers believe their choices are protecting the environment, but in reality, they are being used to clean up the company’s reputation.
The reason this goes beyond a simple lie to become an economic problem can be explained by Akerlof’s lemon market theory. Companies are well aware that consumers lack the means to verify a product’s actual environmental impact. According to research by Lyon and Maxwell, companies employ a strategy of selectively disclosing only favorable environmental information while concealing unfavorable details. When this selective disclosure is repeated, consumers can no longer distinguish between genuinely eco-friendly companies and those engaging in greenwashing. Ultimately, consumers come to distrust all companies, and trust in the entire eco-premium market collapses. This structure, in which companies that sincerely adhere to environmental standards are the ones that suffer, is precisely the market failure created by greenwashing.
Akerlof, G. A. (1970). The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(3), 488–500.
Lyon, T. P., & Maxwell, J. W. (2011). Greenwash: Environmental Disclosure Under Threat of Audit. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 20(1), 3–41.
European Commission (2023). Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims. COM(2023) 166 final.
Delmas, M. A., & Burbano, V. C. (2011). The Drivers of Greenwashing. California Management Review, 54(1), 64–87.
TerraChoice Environmental Marketing (2010). The Sins of Greenwashing: Home and Family Edition. TerraChoice Group Inc.
Szabo, S., & Webster, J. (2021). Perceived Greenwashing: The Effects of Green Marketing on Environmental and Product Perceptions. Journal of Business Ethics, 171(4), 719–739.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC). (2012). Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides). 16 C.F.R. Part 260.
Horiuchi, R., Schuchard, R., Shea, L., & Townsend, S. (2009). Understanding and Preventing Greenwash: A Business Guide. BSR & Futerra Sustainability Communications.