The Chronic Consumer

The other day I posted something about how word of mouth influences my shopping habits. One of the examples I used was how I’ll check out certain insurance quotes if a friend or colleague tells me about great rates that he found at a certain site.

That prompted reader Rich to write in and say

I don’t think it’s a good idea to change your insurance coverage just because someone else got a discount. There are a ton of variables that go into a policy quote, including age, marital status, number of kids, smoking history, medical history, and so on. So the chances of two people getting the exact same quotes just because they’re friends is slim to none.

Well, thanks for your input, Rich. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that everyone would get the same low quotes. What I meant to say was that if an insurance company is known for giving lower quotes than the industry average, then they might be worth checking out.

Thanks for making me be more specific with my posts!