Fake urgency
1
Purpose
The purpose of fake urgency is to manipulate users into buying something they wouldn’t if they were given enough time to decide.
2
Psychological principles
This pattern uses the psychological principles of urgency.
3
Prevention
Users can protect themselves by recognizing fake urgency cues and setting personal spending rules, such as waiting 24 hours before making large purchases.
Fake urgency creates stress, similar to the scarcity dark pattern
When users are overcome with urgency they are more likely to act. When under pressure users are more stressed, when they are more stressed, they are more likely to make decisions not in their best interest.
This pattern is directly related to the deceptive pattern of scarcity. The key difference is that scarcity uses limited availability to heighten desirability—fake urgency uses limited time.
Behind the pattern
The psychological principle behind the pattern is urgency.
Urgency. Have you ever noticed that when you’re stressed it’s harder to complete tasks? When stress hormones flood the brain, higher-order processing abilities are strained. This incentivizes decisions made by our more available emotional instincts. Cyders and Smith's 2008 study on impulsivity states that “Under heightened emotional states, individuals are more inclined to engage in ill-considered or rash actions than at other times.”
How to protect yourself
Recognize that most urgency is fake. Many times the countdown timers that appear are completely fake and will reset if they drain to zero. Language that encourages urgency (e.g., “act now!”) is likely written to manipulate. While we can’t have complete immunity (we are emotional creatures), awareness is a great start.
Set personal rules. It may be useful to set boundaries around your spending to combat fake urgency. For example, wait at least 24 hours before making a purchase over $100.