Change

Change

People can be mad keen about something then gradually the interest drops off. Sometimes we haven't had something for a while then we come back to it years later, only to be surprised that it wasn't how we remembered it to be. Maybe more pleasant maybe less so. 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.

When we think of preferences, we often think about what we eat. Olives tend to be fairly consistent over time, unless some mad botanist meddles with their makeup to alter yield and shelf-life etc. 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 perceived preference for chocolate may dissipate. You preferred products of the past rather than the concoctions of the present. Endless other examples could be cited in support of this.

A large drinks manufacturer dropped the formula that had been used for decades in favour of a new improved variety. This new stuff came out ahead in every focus group. People said it tasted better. However, all the people that liked the old variety went from town to town buying every last can, stockpiling what they could. Let’s just say 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.