Emotional manipulation
Types of emotional manipulation
Fake urgency
Language or visuals artificially heighten a sense of urgency.
Scarcity
An item’s limited availability is used to heighten its desirability.
Confirmshaming
A design that intends users to feel guilty for opting out of a promotion, service, or product.
Fake social proof
Manipulates users into purchasing a product by displaying fake customers’ shopping patterns or attitudes.
Example
On Etsy, a online e-commerce marketplace, users see "In 20+ carts" in bolded red text meant to grab their attention. It is meant to drive scarcity, yet there is no indication that even if 20+ people purchase the product, stock would run out.
