I tend to look at it this way:
(overly generalized)
American shopping culture (100%)
50% Group: Have money to buy things they like, in this case for example, an M4. They like what they see, they buy it, play around with it for a while (months to a couple of years) and then they move on to something else because people change. - "Bushmaster looks cool with lights and grips and...! $$$"
30% Group: They are into firearms collecting and shooting (maybe a family thing, inheritance) and want a product that wont break the 10-15 times they shoot it a year. They have weapon(s) for home defense; they may have taken classes to be in line with proper deployment/legal issues. May go hunting or plinking once in a blue moon. - Do some research, but stick to buddies opinions at the gunshop/range.
15% Group: Consider shooting/training as a main hobby and want good and affordable brands out there to support their extracurricular activities. - Do fairly good amount of surface research.
5% Group: Active/Retired/Disabled LEO and Military who love the challenge of tactical fighting and training. They are familiar with weapons and their use, have combat/street experience. Also consider Home Defense a very serious deal and train continuously for it. Competitive shooters/trainers who require nothing but the best in equipment and do extensive research to promote education and accuracy of information to be as wide spread as possible (at least in their community).
The more the overall consumer base (100%) is informed, the higher the overall quality of the products coming from manufacturers.
For example grocery stores: most of the products you find in the average grocery store are not created by the producers in an input vacuum. On the contrary, most of the products are driven by demand and consumer feedback. There is surprisingly very little that a producer has to do to maintain a good selling product, aside from marketing and little tweaks that stay within the buffer zone of profits generated by the product. New products only last when the producer bases it's info on feedback and trends in consumption.
The Chart is very valuable because in the end (as already described by some posts on this thread) the information in it does trickle down to the 30% - 50% range, though this may take years to do so. This range may possibly contribute the most to the profit margins of the gun industry, therefore their demands can sometimes (though not at all times) usurp the needs of the 15% - 5% group.
This is why rob_s and his chart updating is important to the entire consumer base, regardless of the motivations of the consumer (be it 50% or 5%).
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
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