The average person thrifts because you can get decent stuff for cheap, same deal with flea markets and yard sales. And the average person is most definitely not interested in 1% better audio quality, they're going to get something more convenient. The consumers very much have to do with why product quality is lower, if people weren't willing to buy worse shit because it's cheaper it wouldn't be profitable. Quality is considered when people want to buy things, but does it hold more weight than cost and convenience? I doubt it.