Is it Dark? Understanding Dark Pattern Influence through User Behavioral Strategies and Interpretations in Livestream E-commerce

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Dark patterns are commonly defined as manipulative interface designs that undermine user autonomy, with prior work evaluating their impact through predefined negative framings. However, users’ lived experiences of influential design are often more heterogeneous and situational. This paper examines how users experience and interpret expert-defined dark pattern elements in Chinese livestream e-commerce. We conducted a qualitative study using video-stimulated recall interviews based on participants’ screen recordings (N=17), capturing real behaviors and in-situ reasoning. Our findings show that user responses extend beyond a simple compliance–resistance dichotomy, unfolding through a set of behavioral strategies, composite attributional reasoning, and diverse interpretations of influence. While some designs were perceived as coercive or deceptive, others were experienced as rational persuasion. We contribute a user-centered behavioral taxonomy and a model of design influence grounded in three experiential dimensions, offering insights into how influence is interpreted in dynamic, real-world interaction contexts.

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