---
title: Playing Favorites
description: Discover the impact of pre-shopping preferences in the insurance industry. Learn how positive past experiences drive brand loyalty and higher quote rates.
---

[Global Business Insights ](https://blog.jdpa.com/globalbusinessinsights)

# [Playing Favorites](https://blog.jdpa.com/globalbusinessinsights/playing-favorites)

 Written by [Stephen Crewdson](https://blog.jdpa.com/globalbusinessinsights/author/stephen-crewdson) | May 15, 2024 4:03:07 PM

58% of auto insurance shoppers have a preferred carrier in mind before they shop.1

When shoppers head into the market, more than half of them have a brand preference before they shop. Which brands are leading the way when it comes to pre-shopping preference, and what is the leading reason for that preference?

Which Brands are Pre-Shopping Preferred Carriers?

Of the shoppers who have a carrier in mind before they shop, 75% either consider State Farm, Progressive, GEICO, Allstate, or USAA as their preferred carrier, demonstrating a concentration of brand strength for the market share leaders. When digging a little deeper into shopper type, of these top five carriers, USAA has the highest percentage of shoppers who are high Customer-Lifetime-Value (CLV), while Progressive has the highest percentage who are low CLV.

What About the Rest?

Despite the brand strength of the market leaders, 7% of customers have a preferred brand that is not one of the [J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study’s profiled brands](https://www.jdpower.com/business/insurance/insurance-shopping-study#profiled-brands).

What Causes Carriers to Rise to Preferred Status?

For the top five preferred carriers, “positive past experiences” is the leading reason why a shopper has that carrier as their preferred carrier before shopping. This drives home the importance of monitoring customer satisfaction throughout the entire relationship with a customer and ensuring you are meeting evolving needs. Even if a customer defects, they may return at a later point in time based on their past and present experiences with you.

Does Pre-Shopping Preference Matter?

Based on the [J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study](https://www.jdpower.com/business/insurance/insurance-shopping-study) average, carriers show higher quote and close rates when they are the preferred versus not the preferred carrier.

Allstate demonstrates the greatest impact of being the preferred carrier—with a close rate that is 50 ppts. higher when it is preferred versus not preferred.

The Hartford has the greatest quoting lift from being the preferred carrier. There is an 83-point increase in the quote rate for being the preferred carrier versus not being the preferred carrier.

**Key Takeaway**

Experience matters. Brands that deliver a positive experience to their customers stand to benefit as a preferred carrier when customers start shopping again. And being a preferred brand has its rewards with both higher quote and close rates.

1J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study

 

About the Author: [Stephen Crewdson](https://hub.jdpower.com/stephen-crewdson-speaker) is a Senior Director in the Global Insurance Intelligence Group at J.D. Power. His area of responsibility includes intelligence around new customer acquisition, sales, and marketing for the property/casualty industry. He has more than ten years of experience at J.D. Power and a total of more than 20 years in marketing research and consulting.

Where to find more insights like this:  
[Make sure you're signed up to get the latest insurance intelligence >](https://hub.jdpower.com/insurance-mailing-list-subscribe?__hstc=47241656.b10ae3dc0dcda25f1f287e9a57154264.1680109121495.1709558620266.1710247851748.190&__hssc=47241656.1.1710247851748&__hsfp=1469681459)

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