98 percent of the women … said they would like more verbal closeness with the men they love; they want the men in their lives to talk more about their own personal thoughts, feelings, plans and questions, and to ask them about theirs. (Shere Hite)
Yes but men aren't exactly open about their feelings are they. Also the fact that men are willing to pay for sex, indicates that they do not need a loving relationship to enjoy sex. So men and women are very different in this respect.
I don't think that men value emotional connection any less than women. I think that it is a human need, not gender based. We as human beings thrive in connectedness. I feel that women are more comfortable discussing emotion, and being open and vulnerable about emotion because our identities are not questioned for doing so. Men are socialized from an early age, to "be tough", "man up", and not cry, they are called "soft", and other names when they don't present in the traditional ways that society associates with masculinity. You mention paying for sex, I don't see this as evidence of diminished necessity, or desire for emotional connection, or relationship, if anything I would say that it is evidence to the contrary; being so emotionally starved that they are willing to settle for superficial physical touch to satisfy the need for human connection. Women may approach emotional connection differently, we verbally express our emotional needs, and emotional experiences because we have never been taught not to, or seen as opposite of who we are "supposed" to be because of it. Men may lean more into physical acts to facilitate connection as they do not have to challenge their masculinity to have sex, or complete other physical acts to show instead of voice their feelings. Society has kicked men out of the emotion focused conversation. As romantic partners, even when we make space for male emotion it is often only insofar that they don't criticize us or the way that we are impacting their emotions. Many men don't feel safe sharing feelings when they are not sure how they will be received, if sharing that you feel dismissed or unheard by your partner just makes them angry and more distant, why share? Many men say that instead of listening women wait to respond, using anything expressed to them as ammo, preoccupied with the way men express themselves instead of what they are expressing. Seeing an adversary, someone they have to best so that they can win, instead of their partner in distress. Unfortunately, because this is their experience, when a woman does genuinely want to facilitate a safe space for men's emotions it's met with apprehension because of previous experience. Everyone wants to be loved and connected, we just tell some people that they need to suppress that need to keep it easier for society.
A woman is always a receiver in intercourse. She cannot control the stimulation that a man provides during intercourse. So she can not orgasm from it. Neither does she respond to real-world erotic triggers with a lover. There are no female erotic turn-ons. So women are not aroused with a lover. Physical stimulation is futile without mental arousal. Women need emotional connection to obtain emotional rewards from their relationships with men. These rewards, or financial compensation, may cause women to be amenable or willing to offer the penetrative sex that men desire.