We choose deception because we are selfish and wish to justify our evil actions. Consider this passage that has much to say on this subject:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 NASB Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, (2) that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. (3) Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (4) who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (5) Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? (6) And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. (7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. (8) Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; (9) that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, (10) and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. (11) For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, (12) in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
People will one day follow the Antichrist not out of ignorance (for the book of Revelation makes it clear that God will reveal Himself quite openly in the last days), but out of a love of their wickedness... and because of this they will be deluded, and will reject God and receive the Antichrist.
The mystery of lawlessness is already at work... people want to justify their sin, and avoid it's consequence. Therefore many reject the truth and embrace a lie that tells them they can continue doing what is wrong without consequence... then they get all upset if God chastises them for their sin, seeking to bring them to Himself. Instead, God's chastisement drives them further away because they have loved their sin, and not the truth of God's absolute holiness and goodness.
Yes, God is love, that is part of His goodness, but, even more than that, God is holy, holy, holy. He is perfectly, unrelentingly good. God's morality is perfectly flawless, therefore He cannot just wink at sin, for it is utterly abhorrent to Him. We must receive Christ in order to become new creatures from the inside out, cleansing us from our sins and allowing God to look at us as covered by Christ's blood and righteousness, not our own.
How God deals with those who have never had the gospel clearly presented... this is a mystery that God has not chosen to clearly reveal to us in Scripture. I simply trust that God is good and merciful, yet also just. No one will be able to say they were judged unfairly, and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Everyone saved will be saved by the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, though. And everyone who will be saved that has heard the gospel clearly presented will be saved by their faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, and no one that will be saved will reject the gospel all the way through death.
Finally, I must reiterate that I trust fully in God's goodness, holiness, justice, mercy, love, and grace... there is no other foundation than those attributes revealed through Jesus Christ.