Why we don’t shop around (and why companies count on it)

Speaker 00:00

ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music, and more.

Speaker 10:06

Every time we make life easier, we give something away. A click here, a quick login there, convenience has a price. I'm Rae Johnston and in Opt Out, I explore what we trade for comfort online and how to take some of it back. Opt Out, a special series on Download This Show. To hear it, search for Download This Show wherever you get your podcasts or hear it on the ABC Listen app.

Peter Martin· Host0:37

Some of the increases in electricity prices announced this year were big. In New South Wales, the standard price jumped 9.7%, and the advice of the Energy Regulator, "Shop around." But we're really, really not good at shopping around, and one of the reasons is that the firms that sell us things know how to make sure we don't. Today, an insight into the tricks they use and the reasons why, for most of us, the petrol stations, the electricity companies, the banks and the online retailers who sell us things always have the upper hand. Welcome to The Economy, Stupid, with me, Peter Martin,