Paint protection makes more sense.

Personally, I haven't ever had stomp grip (or similar) on any bike that I'm not leaning off of.

I still have my stands and no bike to use them on, but I have a no mar now, so other people use them.

I hate stomp grips or any type of tank grips, never liked them on sport bikes. Everyone has their own style though, tank grips just got in my way.

Some tanks are better designed than others. Ducati's usually have excellent "ridges" on the tank to hold onto. Most Jap bikes don't.

Also, while Stomp Grip does make it harder to shift from side to side, you can always try TechSpec instead, it doesn't have those big raised dots.