Is fresh pasta just good marketing?
Firstly, there is no one way Italians use pasta.  Italian cuisine is defined regionally, and each region's cuisine approaches pasta somewhat differently.  Secondly, it might be better to consider fresh and dried pasta almost as different ingredients.  They produce different results and are used in different dishes.  I presume that more dried/factory produced pasta is consumed than fresh both in Italy and elsewhere, simply for reasons of convenience.  However, it is not just "marketing", in my opinion.  Fresh pasta, in the correct applications, is delicious, and the correct ingredient for the dish.