If you weren't raised a JW, what were the deciding factors? Was research outside the org. done? Were you impressed by your study conductor? Were you lonely and wanted fellowship? Were you looking for the "truth" and said HA! I found it!? Did you meet a JW and fall in love?
Year was 1992. No internet as we know it today, so "research outside the org" was not so easy in those days, and I wasn't much of a researching type anyway. And, truth be told I was so instantly hooked by it all that I wasn't inclined to look at it critically. I remember my mom trying to get me to discuss JWs with a priest, lol. I refused. All of the reasons you mentioned played a part in my conversion, as well as others - gaining freedom from fear of the apocalypse and death (huge), a narcotic-like infusion of a sense of purpose and exclusivity; rebellion against my krazy katholic mom (little did i know how crazy a lot of JW mothers are); etc. I was very lonely, my late teen/young adult years had been pretty disastrous and I felt very lost in the world. JWism came along and I fell in love with it.
I am ashamed to say that as a young man of 21, I did virtually no research at all. I was impressed by the JW's I studied with, and the literature sounded so convincing! Such pretty pictures! This HAD to be the truth! I look back and wondered why I could be so gullible. Why did I treat my wife so badly when she wouldn't accept it? She actually called me an a**hole because of my arrogance. But, I digress. People get suckered into scams every second of the day. Did we get scammed? I guess P.T. Barnum was right
I was the same age, same experience, same current bewilderment at how easily I was taken in by it.