DARK PATTERNS AND PERSUASIVE DESIGN IN MOBILE GAMBLING APPLICATIONS: A MIXED-METHODS ANALYSIS OF APP STORE DATA, USER REVIEWS, AND INTERFACE FEATURES

Mobile gambling applications have become the predominant modality for online gambling engagement, particularly among young adults, yet the design features embedded within these applications and their relationship to user-reported harm remain systematically understudied. This dissertation presents a comprehensive mixed-methods investigation examining the prevalence of persuasive design techniques and dark patterns in mobile gambling applications and their associations with user-reported experiences of gambling-related harm. The study analyzed N = 36 mobile gambling applications from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with detailed dark pattern coding conducted on n = 20 applications and qualitative thematic analysis of N = 85 user reviews containing harm-related content. Quantitative analysis employed the Gray et al. (2018) dark pattern taxonomy to code applications for the presence of six dark pattern strategies, followed by chi-square tests for category differences and Spearman correlation analyses examining relationships between dark patterns and harm indicators. Qualitative thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke (2006) identified emergent themes from user reviews. Results revealed universal presence of dark patterns across the gambling application landscape, with 100% of applications exhibiting nagging behaviors, 73.7% employing social engineering tactics, and 42.1% utilizing obstruction patterns. The mean number of dark patterns per application was 2.95 (SD = 0.97). Significant category differences emerged, with social casino applications emphasizing forced action patterns (83.3%) while real money applications concentrated social engineering (100%) and obstruction techniques. A moderate positive correlation between dark pattern presence and user-reported harm approached significance (ρ = .410, p = .081), suggesting meaningful design-harm relationships warranting investigation. Qualitative analysis identified eight distinct themes, with spending concerns (24.7%) and withdrawal frustrations (20.0%) most prevalent. These findings establish that dark patterns are pervasive, systemic features of mobile gambling applications and suggest design-harm relationships warranting urgent regulatory attention. Implications for responsible gambling regulation, platform governance policies, and clinical harm reduction interventions are discussed. Keywords: mobile gambling, dark patterns, persuasive design, gambling disorder, user experience, app store analysis, responsible gambling