Они платят за то что им нужно (вообще это так просто по определению - за то что им не нужно люди добровольно не платят), просто с собственно материальной вещью и пользой от неё в так сказать, традиционном понимании это имеет мало общего.

Вот неплохое краткое пояснение (переводить лень, простите)

To explain, let me give you some real insight into brand advertising... when it is done correctly it's focus is "non-buyers."

Often times the ad spend actually out weighs the per-unit cost of product sold. At the high end, $9 Nikes get $40 per pair of ads to make them a $200 pair of Air Jordans.

The product TRULY is the advertising.
The non-buyer is the audience.
The buyer is the seller. This one is tricky.

Imagine yourself as the thing being sold... Nike is your PR agency, and you just called them and said, I got $200 to spend and I want everyone to know what I am about, and also I want some shoes.

What I've just told you is the secret to lifestyle brand advertising... a good ad, convinces the non-buyer the buyer is cool. Or rather, the buyer THINKS the ad will convince the non-buyers he is cool.

After all, when he buys the product, suddenly the ad campaign is about him. This is WHO he is... and the ad is telling everyone it is so.

We are all savvy, we all speak the same visual objective language, we assume that everyone else sees AD X, and we know how we feel about the product and AD X, and we are choosing ads/products that we feel tell our story.

Imagine a guy in front of a wall, behind him are the ad campaigns he's been running about himself - these are his purchases - millions and millions of people have been told BY HIM in ad campaigns he paid for... who he is.

Advertising is about describing ourselves to others. It is proof we are no longer buying things, we are telling our own story to millions.