Democracy is a popularity contest. Why is this surprising?
Anyone offering me free anything (but especially food) to install software immediately goes on my creepy list.
I'm fine with a fast food place giving me food in exchange for me giving them anonymised data on how to sell more food. That seems like a pretty equitable deal to me. The problem comes when shadier companies start, for example, keylogging your device and sending all of that to a foreign government.
I'm pretty sure their staff do, though.
Would you care who wins your mayoral election?
Yes.
> But I've never gotten an email from In n Out saying they need to sell 549 more burgers before midnight to beat Five Guys in quarterly sales rankings.
You didn't get such an email because it wouldn't retain your loyalty. If it did, you would get those emails.
People generally don't spend money so that one brand can beat another. They spend money to be part of the brand, or to consume it. However, they do spend money to have their guy beat the other guy.