Quite frequently I see posts showing some numbers from some source and someone responding in the line of ‘yes, but this is old data’.
Mind you, although we are constantly spoon fed with the idea that tomorrow is entirely different from yesterday, lots of buying behaviours are surprisingly and annoyingly consistent and predictable.
E.g., patterns such as buying moderation, duplication of purchase and natural monopoly, were identified by Andrew Ehrenberg in the late fifties of previous century. These and other patterns were and are extensively replicated and built upon across categories and markets by researchers of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute until today.
Yes, some things change over time, but patterns in brand choice are not among them.
It’s always good to be sceptical, but the argument ‘this is old data’ is, in many cases, unjustified.