Comment by noir_lord
Certainly an element of that but there are also cases where the superior product "lost" to the inferior product because the inferior one was better marketed.
So doing some level of promotion becomes necessary if you want users even when you have the better product - the superior product speaks for itself doesn't often apply any more.
> doesn't often apply any more
It actually never did, for almost any product.
And programming languages are in the lower end of quality actually impacting decisions. People are incredibly resistant to changes there, and just can't evaluate competing options at the same time.