It's not about being price insensitive but recommending things that are relatively mainstream and that don't seem risky, especially for major purchases that have to be installed and potentially serviced.
(Did have a service issue on my recent GE Profile refrigerator but it took one phone call and was a no-brainer.)
But you're probably right in general. Wirecutter mostly doesn't recommend unknowns it thinks are potentially bargains. Which I probably wouldn't do in its position either.
They usually have a midrange "top pick", followed by a "budget pick" and an "upgrade pick".
It's not "the best money can buy" at all -- that's what they reserve their "upgrade pick" for. E.g. look at humidifiers:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-humidifi...
Also it's full of Chinese brands. The top two humidifiers are Levoit, from Shenzen. Or if I look at dehumidifiers, Midea is their #1 pick:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-dehumidifier...
So I don't think anything you said is true. Maybe for some individual products, but certainly not for the site as a whole.
You don't want to research and recommend a product from a random seller on Amazon that won't be available six months from now.
Their budget recommendations are, correctly, products that have proven to be reliable and available.
They are a great review site, and normally do categories like "absolute best", "best value", and "best budget".
They are very thorough, and always buy their own stuff, never take sponsorships or freebies.