Casual pianists - what would motivate you to study classical pieces more intently?

As a piano teacher, I recently had a student who quit because she wanted to improve as a pianist, but she didn’t want to put in the effort to study classical piano pieces. I told her that modern pieces like pop arrangements aren’t good for studying things like finger technique and articulation, all very important aspects of well rounded piano technique.

The thing is everyone wants to improve as a pianist but the work that goes into developing finger technique means you have to put in many hours studying classical pieces. How does one (especially adult students or hobbyists) get the motivation?