Forecast by analogy is a forecasting

Forecasting

Forecasting is the process of making statements about events whose actual outcomes have not yet been observed. A commonplace example might be estimation for some variable of interest at some specified future date. Prediction is a similar, but more general term...

 method that assumes that two different kinds of phenomena share the same model of behaviour

Behavioral modeling

In behavioral science, system theory and dynamic systems modeling, a behavioral model reproduces the required behavior of the original analyzed system, such as there is a one-to-one correspondence between the behavior of the original system and the simulated system. That namely implies that the...

. For example, one way to predict the sales of a new product is to choose an existing product which "looks like" the new product in terms of the expected demand pattern

Demand (economics)

In economics, demand is the desire to own anything, the ability to pay for it, and the willingness to pay . The term demand signifies the ability or the willingness to buy a particular commodity at a given point of time....

for sales of the product.

"Used with care, an analogy is a form of scientific model that can be used to analyze and explain the behavior of other phenomena."