Actually, it's a combination of both situations. For the most part, people don't go further because of their lack of knowledge of their rights and the carrier's obligations. Also, from the outset, either a lot of misinformation occurs or no information is provided.
I am telling you about an experience I had a few weeks ago. I had gone to Halifax for the weekend. On the morning of my return, I arrived at the airport to catch my flight, but the flight was not displayed on the screen. When I got to the counter to follow up, I saw a small sign that said the counter would open at 3:30. Yet my flight was at 8:30, all the passengers were there, but no one knew if the flight was delayed or cancelled and if there would be another flight.
I was the one who talked to the 90 people to tell them what they were entitled to and what the carrier's obligations were. All these people were left to their own devices.
In fact, often when releases are issued, it is to say that these are exceptional circumstances and there is no right to compensation. In this case, I dug around to find out why this was the case. I was told that it was a safety reason, but I was never able to find out the details.