Change

Change

We love something, we are passionate about it, we devote a lot of time and energy towards it then slowly but surely the interest drops off. Something changes. Something irks. Something alters our perspective. This thing no longer resides as the top of our preferred list of things to do or be involved with. Here lies the perfect reason to dismiss the case for having fixed preferences. Some people have followed a football team for decades. Then the appeal diminishes. How can someone like something so much, for so long, then go off it? If you showed such a preference for football over tennis before, why are you watching tennis now and paying little attention to the eleven aside game? Games change, games evolve, bringing new followers with it. Players become professional, more commercial minded and sometimes it can be argued the spirit gets lost along the way. A team with faster more athletic players earning more money perhaps can be less pleasing to long-time observers. People preferred the way it was, not the way it is now. Your preference has not changed, the thing that you enjoyed has.

I haven’t had a chocolate fondue cake for some time we muse. Maybe they don’t make them where we now live. However, today we have a chance to have some. When we bite into it we are surprised that it isn't how we remembered it to be. Maybe more pleasant maybe less so. Is the recipe the same as it was before? Olives tend to be fairly consistent over time, unless some mad botanist meddles with their makeup to alter yield or shelf-life. Some products do have their ingredients interfered with, changing their taste and mouth feel. More sugar, less salt, and more whey to replace pricey constituent elements. When manufacturers alter their creations, they do it gradually, bit by bit, praying that consumers don't notice. Some chocolate makers have reduced the cocoa content significantly. Down from a third of the bar to a fifth. Hence why your desire to eat certain chocolate may dissipate. You preferred products of the past rather than the concoctions of the present. Alternatively, we may find ourselves preferring the new over the old.

A large drinks manufacturer dropped the formula that had been used for decades in favour of a new improved variety. This new formula came out ahead in every focus group. People said it tasted better. However, the core customer base was rather upset. They didn’t welcome the change. They much preferred the old formula, not this new one. People began to stockpile hundreds of cans of the old formula, traveling from town to town in search of any still on sale. Sales of the drink with this new formula shrivelled. The result? The new drink was quietly dropped and the old mixture returned to the shelves after the company lost a small fortune. Preferences control the purse strings. If you change the taste of something, it is not people’s preference that changes.