There are enough sponsored videos on YouTube tech channels by vpn providers that I think it’s safe to concede individuals are paying for those services.
The other products and services mentioned don’t seem to be prospering the same way.
Are most people using VPNs for privacy? Every individual I know that pays for one does it so they can watch TV in a different country or something similar.
There's also lots of businesses that use them for accessing internal networks externally.
I've never met anyone in real life that is using one for privacy reasons.
The end result might be privacy, but the demand is for bypassing content blocking. Your average user of a VPN doesn't care if it prevents people from identifying them, all they care about is if it lets them watch The Office from wherever they are.
Well, you could argue about whether it counts as privacy per se, but: a, they don't care to ensure that no one can identify them; b, they very much do care that it prevents whatever server they're getting The Office from from identifying them.
The other products and services mentioned don’t seem to be prospering the same way.