Ecosystem-Level Manipulation: How Digital Choice Architecture and Dark Patterns Reconfigure Consumer Autonomy in E-Commerce Frameworks
Benzar Glen Grepon, Charry Mae Grepon
Received: 26 June 2026; Revised: 30 July 2026; Accepted: 16 August 2026; Published: 21 August 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.66074/H1Q6F9M3T
Abstract
Modern e-commerce ecosystems increasingly leverage advanced behavioral analytics to deploy dynamic digital choice architectures. While choice architecture can optimize user navigation, its subversion into “dark patterns”, manipulative user interface designs present a systemic threat to consumer autonomy. This paper conceptualizes and quantifies Ecosystem-Level Manipulation (ELM) within e-commerce platforms. We develop a socio-technical framework to evaluate how systemic dark patterns reconfigure user decision-making processes. Utilizing an empirical choice experiment (N = 1,200), we model the degradation of consumer autonomy using modified discrete choice equations. Our findings indicate that combined dark patterns create a compounding cognitive tax, reducing autonomous choice velocity by 42% and increasing involuntary cart conversions by 68%. Finally, we contribute a set of “De-Biased Design Principles” as an Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT) countermeasure to safeguard consumer agency.
Keywords: consumer autonomy, dark patterns, digital choice architecture, e-commerce frameworks, information systems design theory, socio-technical systems
Author Information: Northern Bukidnon State College, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, Philippines; bgsgrepon@nbsc.edu.ph
Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2026