The emotional displays don't need to be authentic, they just have to demonstrate a lot of effort. “Flattery inflation” benefits a dictator by distorting normal signals of higher and lower levels of support. It stifles information about exactly how unpopular the dictator is. The regime is full of fake signals and everyone knows it. So “costly signaling” is important. If I have to expend resources to signal a position, it becomes more believable. Thus, it is not enough to merely say you support the leader.