Dividends are a huge factor, in my opinion. Used to be, the idea was that you'd buy an ownership stake in a company, regardless of how small that stake was, with the view that if the company was successful, you, as part owner, would get a share of the profits. Horray!

Now, when you buy an ownership stake, you usually don't expect to see a share of the profits. You expect to make your money by selling the shares to somebody else for more money, which they are willing to pay, because they believe that they will be able to sell it down the line for even more money. At no point does anybody think "Gee whiz, if this thing gets bigger, I'll get a nice share of all this money they're making."

You wouldn't need so much growth if your motivation for buying a share was to get some of the profit. If you bought a share for X, and the company paid you Y dividend, and you were happy with that, you wouldn't worry so much about whether or not you'd be able to sell it for tons more money later. If the company was still making about the same money 10 years down the line, you'd still be happily collecting your check every quarter, and be pleased you'd made such a prudent investment.