Unwitting Participants at Our Expense: A/B Testing and Digital Exploitation

Firms use A/B testing, a methodology to compare two or more versions of ideas to see which one performs better, to decide on features of their digital products and services. Although A/B testing brings benefits, some A/B testing can lead to digital exploitation (i.e., appropriating resources from users to increase firms’ performance). We explicate why A/B testing can lead to digital exploitation, suggest mitigation options by establishing Institutional Review Boards, explicitly seeking users’ consent, and implementing incentive schemes, and conclude with research directions on this topic.