The Architecture of Anxiety: An Empirical Study on Urgency Cues from Dark Patterns in Online Hotel Booking
Zhou, Yujie · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · 2026
Contemporary digital interfaces increasingly employ dark patterns, such as urgency cues, to drive short-term Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), often at the expense of user well-being. This thesis empirically investigates the psychological and experiential toll of these manipulative architectures within the high-stakes context of online hotel booking. The study addresses the core research question: To what extent do visual urgency cues- countdown timers and scarcity messages- individually and interactively impact users' state anxiety, perceived autonomy, and overall satisfaction? Through a 2x2 between-subjects experimental design (N = 69), participants engaged in a simulated booking task to measure the causal impact of these cues. The findings reveal that while individual cues exert pressure, their combined presence significantly elevates state anxiety, constrains perceived decision-making autonomy, and critically causes a highly significant collapse in overall user satisfaction (p = .007). Beyond quantitative metrics, this research dialectically reframes dark patterns not merely as persuasive design elements, but as profit-driven mechanisms of behavioral control. By exposing the hidden psychological costs of such interfaces, this study underscores the urgent moral imperative for HCI educators, practitioners, and regulators to transition toward transparent, ethically grounded design approaches that prioritize genuine human enablement over architectures of anxiety.