"Does that mean that our citizens are any less likely to get kidnapped? No it doesn't." - oh yes it does, many hostages have been returned for money, money that funds this whole game. They target the ones that pay, the odd one that does not is used as we see recently.
see this article over £55m has been paid by our EU partners weching on the agreement that only UK/US have stuck to.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/02/british-government-dilemma-refusing-pay-hostage-ransom-isis
It is terrible for those getting caught but in the ends it makes it less likely that British or US citizens are targetted. In the end the gutless French and Italians will have to stop paying by then they'll have plenty of "stock" for beheadings from those countries. It is the weakness of those that pay that propagates this problem.