In recent years, the topic of consumer vulnerability has come to the fore in the context of the digitalisation of the economy insofar as it can be seen as a symptom of, and embodying the various asymmetries that characterise digital markets (see eg, BEUC, 2022). One of the many features of the digital economy is to make use of the digitalisation of marketplaces in order to render consumers more susceptible to products and services, i.e., to persuade and in some cases straightforward manipulate them (Helberger et al, 2002, pp 176-177). By allowing for pervasive tracking techniques (through their data-driven nature) digital marketplaces have enabled traders to create new knowledge on how to persuade and manipulate consumers to purchase their services and products thus leading to important power asymmetries in consumer-seller relations. Further these insights have also been translated at the very infrastructural level by adapting the design of interfaces and the very choice architecture on this basis (Helberger et al, 2002, pp 186-190) … (more)
[Raphaël Gellert, Transformative Private Law Blog, 4 November 2024]
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