Project_4850 Research - Potentially harmful OCA online practices

A study to provide foundational evidence to DBT's policy teams on the nature and extent of potentially harmful OCA practices employed by a selected sample of digital platforms. This evidence is crucial for subsequently developing appropriate regulatory responses and interventions to safeguard the interests of consumers and promote fair competition in online markets.

The goods or services procured through this contract will be used by the Department for Business and Trade to:

1. Identify the types and frequency of potentially harmful OCAs used across selected online platforms.
2. Understand the probability of users encountering these practices on these platforms during their customer journey.
3. Obtain data-driven insights into the relationships between OCA prevalence and factors such as product categories, device types (desktop vs mobile), and platform types (e-commerce vs social media with market functions).
4. Establish an evidence base on the current state of potentially harmful OCA usage by major online platforms operating in the UK market.
5. Use these findings to scope future research projects examining the negative impacts of OCAs on consumer welfare, autonomy, and market competition.
6. Contribute with evidence to update relevant consumer protection and competition policies, guidance, and enforcement approaches to address consumer harms and anti-competitive effects arising from the use of potentially harmful choice architectures by online platforms.