In 2021 and 2022, BETA worked with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) to find ways to improve the Energy Made Easy (EME) comparison website, a free independent government service that helps customers compare all energy providers and find the right plan for them.
BETA analysed call-centre notes and web form data held by the AER, conducted qualitative user testing on both the existing website and prototype design, and ran several surveys and experiments with both EME users and the general Australian population.
The research identified ways to steer customers more effectively through the search questions and filters, focus attention on critical information, and build confidence by showing customers how their current plan compares to other options.
The redesigned EME website has resulted in more users completing a search and reaching the results page, taking a high accuracy pathway to see more precise estimates, clicking through to look at individual plan details and making a switch to another retailer.
BETA also evaluated the impact of the Better Bills Guideline, visit Better bills impact report: How the AER’s Better Bills Guideline drives consumer confidence and market engagement.
BETA previously did research to inform the development and implementation of the Better Bills Guideline, see Electricity information to fit the bill, 2018 and Improving energy bills, 2021
Trial start and end dates
10 June 2022 for approximately 2 weeks
Ethics approval
Project ID: 11843
Research participants
2,270
Design
Survey with two survey experiments
Interventions
Special offers randomised controlled trial (RCT)
Trial arm 1: Special offers not flagged
Trial arm 2: Plan shows a special offer flag
Trial arm 3: Plan shows special offer flag with explanation that offer is included in the total estimate
Retailer best offer comparison RCT
Trial arm 1: Pinned retailer best offer; competitive retailer best offer
Trial arm 2: Pinned retailer best offer; expensive retailer best offer
Trial arm 3: No pin; competitive retailer best offer
Trial arm 4: No pin; expensive retailer best offer
Outcome measures
Special offers RCT
Outcome (cheapest plan): choose the cheapest overall plan (binary)
Retailer best offer comparison RCT
Outcome 1 (savings from switching): amount saved from switching ($$$, continuous) Note: the implied cost of the current plan is $2,008 so the savings from cheapest plan is $384.
Outcome 2 (any switch): choose to switch from current plan (binary)
Outcome 3 (switch to retailer’s best offer): select the retailer’s best offer (binary)
Outcome 4 (switch to best plans): select either of the top 2 plans in terms of ‘estimated cost’ (binary)