...but how did you pick your broker? If you're using a broker, you're not choosing the insurance company. So telling us that the insurance company's marketing has no effect on you is a moot point: You passed the buck to your broker.
And how did your broker choose them? How did they choose which insurance companies to work with? Do you know for a fact that they took every possible source of insurance into account when providing you with recommendations?
Sounds to me like you may be naive about just how much of an effect marketing has your purchase decisions. It's not always as obvious as a jingle.
step1: scape the list of all licensed brokers in my jurisdiction from their regulatory website.
step2: prepare the email clearly spelling out the request for quote.
step3: spam all brokers. repeat in a week to make sure they weren't on vacation.
i emailed 200+ brokers with my RFQ, waited a week or so, and picked the lowest cost, then grind them down a little more on the price. I then emailed them my billing details and forgot about it.
Insurance in my area is tightly regulated. Forms, tables, amounts - it's all tightly regulated. It's a commodity.
Could you play devil's advocate and point out where marketing could've played a role?
Impressive. That does seem like a thorough objective process for which promotions/advertising* would have had zero impact.
So: Touché.
I don't think that's the norm, even among the majority if HN readers, but I agree that your process as described appears to remove any potential promotional influence.
* Marketing, as I've argued elsewhere, goes beyond promotion and impacts prices and the details of the offers, which obviously did impact your choices. But I think you and most people in this thread are referring specifically to the promotional side of marketing, so it may be pedantic of me to make my argument here.
And how did your broker choose them? How did they choose which insurance companies to work with? Do you know for a fact that they took every possible source of insurance into account when providing you with recommendations?
Sounds to me like you may be naive about just how much of an effect marketing has your purchase decisions. It's not always as obvious as a jingle.