If the votes don't come, they move on, missing the greater value down the track, which might be indirect value and is "paid" in some other form.
If the votes don't come, they generally leave HIVE. Then, they come back when the price of HIVE increases. Those people register to HIVE thinking that there is free money to get, sharing posts like on fb, insta, twitter. When they get some payout, they power down and draw it from the ecosystem. This isn't adding any value to HIVE.
I believe that whatever quality a post or comment has, it adds some value to the blockchain, and rewards will come later somehow. We need fuel (value) to drive up HIVE.
Some people do put in the effort early, but they often run out of energy very quickly. This is a long game in many respects, and it is more like building a city than getting a job.