In this case, I really don't think that is the reason: As mentioned above, often the same users that are hesitant to spend €4 on encrypted messaging will happily spend €4 on a single cup of coffee.
I've read an interesting exploration of this idea a while ago (i.e. why is it easier to get people to pay you €x for a cup of coffee than it is to get them to pay the same amount for your app) – I think the main argument in favor of the coffee was familiarity and predictable utility.
I don't think they is much of argument, even if it would be sushi the they often buy 4eur coffee. Everybody has to have some strategy on how not to spend too much money. Usually it involves buying some things and not buying others. And when you are in balance, it involves not changing patterns without reason and if you change them, kick some other thing out.
And easiest way how to not spend too much money on apps is to simply not buy them. Takes little effort and is very effective.
I am willing to pay €4. But only if all my friends also pay €4 and decide to start using the app. Otherwise it's worth €0 to me. So unless I can convince them to start (which I usually can't, because they don't trust that their friends will use it), the natural equilibrium is that nobody buys it.
One solution might be a 30 day free trial? I don't know why free trials are so unpopular nowadays. I am much more inclined to buy something when I have had a chance to try it!
However it was very clever to give a whole year for free, lock everyone in and then start taking a small fee. I like that strategy. Now with FB it's just a plain data grab.
So I paid for them. Despite them all earning real money in real jobs.
Then Facebook bought WhatsApp, and now none of them are willing to move to Signal, because they like WhatsApp.
That's what WhatsApp did (except that the trial lasted at least one year, and practically often much longer), and it worked wonders for them.
Even better: Offer a full-featured trial, allow incoming messages for free forever, charge the €4 only for outgoing messages after that :)
Maybe free for up to 5 contacts?
I bought the app, I have 3 other people on it, and I've used it to communicate with them sparsely (once a month at most) for over a year.
It's already paid for itself.
> I've struggled to get well paid professionals to cough up the €4. There is some mental block beyond 'free', yet these same people decry WA's privacy changes.
Our culture is totally broken. I think it stems from our salaries being too low. People have less money than they should so need thinks to be free to get by which means investors need to pay for it which means the salaries need to be low so the investors make money.