London, 19 May 2021 place.
The REaD Group survey, which revisits consumer opinions of their energy providers from 2018, interviewed 2,003 UK consumers aged 18 to 55+ and was conducted by Opinium.
British Gas, E.ON and EDF remain the top three energy providers, but with a reduced share of market since 2018, while SSE and Scottish Power remained stable (9 percent) in fifth position. However those in the trants to the marketplace include Arvo, Pure Planet and Orbit.
Once again, previous good service (53 percent) and high quality customer service (52 percent) were runaway leaders when it comes to what makes consumers trust an energy provider, up on 49 percent and 48 percent in 2018.
As to whether those customers trust that their current provider is giving them the best deal, the results are encouraging for energy providers: in 2018, two-fifths (41 percent) said yes, increasing to almost half (49 percent) in 2021. Those who didn
Price still remains the biggest driver for consumers looking to switch. More than half of respondents (53 percent) said finding a cheaper offering would make them want to change to a new provider from fifth and sixth places in 2018.
On top of that, over half of energy bill payers asked (55 percent) said they would definitely or probably like to hear more from their energy provider, specifically about energy usage and tips on how to conserve energy
Smart home technology is making inroads too: of those surveyed, 41 percent said that they currently have smart home technology, compared to only 30 percent in 2018.
For utilities providers seeking the best way to communicate with their customers, email is again the clear winner in 2021
on. With word of mouth being a powerful influence on consumer choice, you can be sure that bad experience will be talked about and the details shared using the many channels available to consumers.
Download the full report here: https://readgroup.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/REaD-Group-Report-Power-to-the-People-Trust-Loyalty-in-the-energy-sector-May-2021.pdf.