Whenever the airlines introduce a new fee... such a seat selection fee, they will then implement measures to ensure that people choose to "purchase" the fee. The mechanism for that is that they will allocate people who are travelling together seats in different parts of the aircraft. This manipulation of the customer generates extra revenue, but it also generates extra resentment. They don't care because, despite appears to the contrary, the choice on particular city pairs is often very limited.
These "voluntary" fees are utterly disingenuous and need regulating. When quoting a fare, I think the airline should be required to post a "typical" fare.. ie, a person who had one checked bag, 1 hand luggage, pays with a credit card and selects their seat. This would give the customer a more realistic sense of the true costs of the ticket.
Unbundling of charges is not, as the airlines like to portray, an effort to allow the customer to "customise the service to meet their needs". It is a blatent attempt to hide the true cost of travel and to mislead the consumer with headline prices which simply don't exist in reality.
This industry badly needs re-regulation.
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