Lately we've ran an experiment that felt to me like it crossed the line into dark pattern territory. It offered bonus eBooks for those who purchase within 24 hours on the pricing and checkout pages. With a ticking clock to build urgency... textbook example of a dark pattern?[1]

Despite being a co-founder and leading A/B testing at my company, I'm not the only one calling the shots, and others were keen on running this experiment. In their mind it was simply a nice gift that we offer to customers. They couldn't see the potential harm.

Luckily(?) this experiment didn't fare that well, so we're in the clear. For now. I'm wondering how to make them see the dangers and temptation with dark patterns, especially if they increase conversions. Any thoughts / advice?

[0] https://github.com/Alephbet/Alephbet

[1] https://webtransparency.cs.princeton.edu/dark-patterns/