Why would you want to make that huge mess (with 4 resistors instead of one) for saving a few pennies?
Why do you think it's a "mess"? There is some elegance in using larger number of parts, when possible; that way, heat is spread over a larger area. Resistors are very good candidates for both series and parallel connections because they share voltage/current well. Sometimes you also can reuse a part which already exists in BOM. But of course it isn't automagically always the right solution, rarely such thing exist in electronic design.
And I would venture to say that ZERO people on this forum are doing anything in volume! Let's not kid ourselves and be real for a minute!
Why would you think so? While hobbyists are well regarded here, this also is the #1 English language professional electronic design forum on the planet. Every professional I have worked with at least
knows this place even if they do not post (or admit posting) themselves. I'm 100% certain there are a few contributors here who design stuff that sells in tens if not hundreds of thousands a year, but quite obviously, lead designer of Apple or Asus would not be here.
Nevertheless, many design principles are similar even when dealing with one-offs or small batches. Personally, I apply the principle of cost reduction even in small scale customized stuff whenever it does not interfere with other constraints. Surprisingly often the customer still wants that a PCB does not cost more than say 50€ to manufacture (each), even when the NRE costs dominate, and the product which originally was meant to be an experimental batch of 50 is now explored for the possibility to be manufactured in thousands. Well at thousands a few cents of a single BOM line doesn't mean much, but when applied to the whole thinking pattern it makes a difference.