I wanted to ask for long time this question, Why does this keeps happening?
Apple, Kagi, Vivaldi, news companies and even Google.
I started seeing a good amount of people who stopped caring about consumer rights/freedom and started to think and advocate for companies.
Even in non-brands cases, a lot of people buy the product with the highest price, because they think that it has a higher quality despite the fact that there is no necessary correlation between both.
How do I know that? I know a shop that buy cheap products and sell them with very expensive price tag, to my surprise they are making insane profits.
What is happening?
People buy stuff for the image. Apple has cultivated a certain image with its branding that people are attracted to and buy their products because of it. I’ve heard it described as “People don’t buy what you make but what you are.” The image and brand of the company is often why people buy from them. Apple produces products for cool hip people, not the stuffy old guys in suits! You’re a cool person, right?
Something being expensive is often part of the image. People like to pretend they’re rich and the more expensive all their stuff is the more they can project that image. It can also be self validation. Owning expensive products can someone feel better about their lives.