Enabling communities to discuss complex and futuristic scenarios

Many of our clients are keen to engage their communities on complex, challenging and futuristic issues as these are the very dilemmas that might benefit most from consumers’ and citizens’ input. But, this can be challenging, as we may be asking people to think about issues they have simply never considered and they may have no experience to draw on.

Citizens Advice, as the statutory advocate for energy, representing consumers’ interests in the energy market had just such a challenge for us. Recent years have seen significant changes in the energy market, especially in terms of the role that third party intermediary companies (TPIs) are playing in the market.

Whilst Price Comparison Websites have been around for a while, newer TPIs, such as Flipper and Look After My Bills, offer auto-switching services, which mean they have greater involvement in making decisions on consumers’ behalf, and in processing their personal data. In the coming years we are likely to see further fast-changing developments in how consumers choose, use and interact with the smart energy market. This has significant, potential implications for consumer protection and so regulators, government and consumer groups all have a keen interest in how TPIs should work in the future.

Citizens Advice commissioned Community Research to conduct research with consumers to understand what they think, need and want in this changing market in order to provide evidence to help them advocate on consumers’ behalf for an appropriate regulatory model and effective consumer protection.

The design of the research was a big challenge. How could we ensure that research participants had a good understanding of both how the energy market and associated regulation/consumer protection works now and, even more tricky, how things are likely to change in future? Participants needed to be able to put themselves in the shoes of future energy consumers in a world where electric cars and interactive energy systems are the norm.

We conducted a series of deliberative workshops across the UK in addition to ten in home depth interviews with vulnerable consumers who were unable to attend a workshop setting. We chose a deliberative approach over standard-length focus groups. This meant we could introduce participants to the complexity of the issues, share information and ideas, and give them time to contemplate and develop informed opinions.  We created consumer pen portraits and animations to explain new ideas in a user-friendly way. We also shared films[1] created by Horizon Research Energy, a research institute at the University of Nottingham, which showed ‘light’ and ‘dark’ future scenarios also helped bring these ideas to life.

Participants had an opportunity to reflect in more detail on the ideas after the workshop and give their considered views via self-filmed video feedback

The findings were reported in January 2020, with interim feedback provided in late 2019; timed to ensure that the findings informed Citizens Advice’s response to the forthcoming Ofgem/BEIS consultation on the energy market. Citizens Advice’s report outlining the research and their related recommendations,  Stuck in the Middle, was published in early March 2020.

Our conclusion? Even complex and futuristic issues can be explained if you take the time and use a creative approach.

[1] http://horizonenergy.blogspot.com/