Game design
many options to the consumer that they find it difficult to compare, with this difficulty increasing as the number of choice parameters (e.g. price, quality features) increases. The theory of harm here is that overreliance on simplifying heuristics to shortcut this decision making can lead to the consumer making poor choices. In its detailed evidence paper, the CMA uses a stylised example of an online book retailer to demonstrate choice overload (figure 1).
This creates somewhat of a dilemma for an industry where the use of personalisation algorithms has come with a degree of controversy. Being able to demonstrate positive outcomes through personalisation is therefore important. Choice information Similar to choice structure, the CMA finds that there is strong evidence that manipulating choice information can affect consumer choices. If the information about the available choices is hidden, presented in a misleading way or made difficult to understand, the consumer’s ability to comprehend and evaluate aspects of their choices is weakened and hence they may make poor decisions. Some practices, such as framing and referencing, can be used to affect consumer decisions in a harmful, as well as in a beneficial, way. However, other choice information practices have been found to be harmful most of the time because they may mislead, confuse, disengage or in other ways harm consumers’ choice. To deal with the harmful choice structure practices, potential remedies typically aim to ensure accurate and unbiased information is provided at key points of consumers’ decision-making processes. However, the remedies should consider other factors, such as information overload or complex language, so as not inadvertently to make the situation worse. In the UK, a form of reference pricing – misleading representation of price or misleading price promotion – may already fall under consumer protection regulation as an unfair commercial practice that misleads or is likely to mislead and hence may lead to enforcement cases.
Figure 1: Choice Overload, source CMA
Table 2: Choice information examples OCA practice Description Drip pricing % The choice architect initially shows only part of the price
Evidence
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and reveals the full price of the product or service at later stages of the consumer journey The choice architect displays a previous (or future) price with the current price, which makes the current price look more attractive The choice architect decides how any decision-related information is described or presented to a consumer
It is hard to look at this stylised example and not draw parallels with online gambling markets, specifically the slots lobby tabs of operators. Interestingly, one of the potential remedies cited by the regulator to mitigate the potential harm is the use of personalisation algorithms: “Using consumers’ past behavioural data or consumers’ explicit input of preferences, these tools can build short, ordered lists of alternatives that closely match consumers’ preferences. Such tools have been found to improve both the quality and the efficiency of purchase decisions, by enabling consumers to focus their evaluation on the smaller set of high-quality options while lowering search costs.”
Reference pricing
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Framing
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IMGL Magazine • July 2022 • 29
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