Hello,
to be honest, this is the easy way - Because the materials in the material library are being made inside 3ds Max, it is much easier to export them with colors as shaders. This additionally allows the users to take the shader and use it for other things in the scene, if they choose to have the exact same color in a different material. We felt it wasn't necessary to differentiate "meaningful" and "non-meaningful" uses of the color shader (as you have stated the examples).
We are, as always, open to feedback - We have said that internally that if this proves inconvenient for users, we will allocate more development time and handle it so that the color shaders are used really only when necessary. So if you feel that way, let us know.
Thanks,
Jan