There's a store giving away "free" coffee, if you agree to have your photo taken and shared publically on social media. And you agree to sign up to their mailing list. And, in the very fine print, you implicitly agree to have your contact info shared with other companies for the purposes of direct marketing. (Of course, you can opt out of the mailing list after you receive your first email... but as for the other companies that now also have your email address, well then it's not so clear. I suppose you'll just have to deal with those, individually, over the course of the weeks/months/years that you receive (and try to opt out of) their marketing barrage.) But hey, free coffee, right?
Next to that store is another coffee shop. This store charges $1.75 for a rather plain, unmarked cup of surprisingly adequate coffee. The store has a tip jar on the counter that's clearly labeled as going towards supporting the local kids' hockey team. (Does it actually go there? Who knows. But people report feeling good dropping loose change in there once in a while, and that's sufficient.) The store clerk knows the regular patrons by name, and the staff tend to "source locally" (not just their materials, but even for their part-time and student help during peak seasons). They're small. They're struggling. And thanks to the "free shop" next door, there's even talk of raising their prices to $2/cup for a small.
Given that scenario, will people choose the "free" coffee? You bet your ass they will. But know these 2 things: there will still be a sizable portion of folks that, given the above scenario, would STILL choose to pay for a product if they knew the "warm fuzzy benefits" that came along for the ride. In other words: money isn't everything.
The 2nd thing to note is that, after a while (perhaps, after being sufficiently educated? Or just being tired of treated like a product themselves?) there will be folks who jump ship from the "free store" in search of a more sustainable and ethical alternative.
I suppose it might happen in the other direction as well (people leaving the pay shop in order to get free coffee next door) but I hope by now you can understand WHY someone would want to pay a nominal fee for something that is apparently "free" somewhere else.
