As something who doesn’t like those plug in air fresheners, I’m just really curious about your sense that you needed to buy them and use them. I’m not judging here, we all get these notions of what is normal or expected from our environment. I grew up when those didn’t exist, and while bathroom air freshener sprays were a thing and not unknown in the house I grew up in, were kind of optional. I know some people for whom these seem just a thing they take for granted, and wonder to what extent they like them vs think of them as a thing they need to do in order to have good hygiene or keep a good household or whatever.
Personally, I’m turned off by them. I don’t wan’t my house smelling like something it doesn’t have any natural reason to smell like. If there is a bad smell, I want to know and take care of it and not cover it up. Some such fragrances actually really bother me, though it depends, but what I just said applies even to a fragrance that doesn’t bother me and that I like.
Have these become a thing that people think of as something they just need to do?
Any society has norms which inevitably conflict with 100% honesty. A sociopath does not care about honesty and leverages these norms and human nature to their maximum advantage. Anyone who preferences honesty over these norms will experience friction commensurate with the difference.