Hooked on apps: Governance by responsible interactive behavioral design - A field study

Christina Timko, Nicholas Ostrode and Michael W. M. Roos

No 1171, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: Smartphone apps deliberately apply behavioral design, including algorithms sensing human behavior and personalized design elements affecting it. Untransparent behavioral design exploits an information asymmetry between app vendors and consumers and can lead to negative effects on consumers such as diminished user autonomy or smartphone addiction. We address this topic through two main contributions. First, we present guidelines for a more consumer-friendly handling of behavioral design elements, deriving a sixstep approach for the design process of smartphone apps and its documentation that we call responsible interactive behavioral design. Second, we analyze the effects of behavioral design and of measures protecting consumers from unwanted behavioral design in a field experiment with a newsfeed reader app used by three study groups, showcasing the described design approach. In the group with behavioral design but no protection measures, participants used the app twice as long as in the group with the baseline version. Participants in the group with protection measures were most aware of being 'object' to behavioral design. Their usage time was between that of the other two groups. If it becomes adopted, the approach of responsible interactive behavioral design may contribute to viable market solutions, addressing some of the major consumer protection needs.

Keywords: Behavioral economics; consumer protection; field study; smartphone app; behavioral design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D82 D91 L86 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-nud and nep-reg
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:325495

DOI: 10.4419/96973356

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