Consumer research giant Nielsen's Nothing Is Too Good for Fido: Pets That Have it All nicely sums up a recent set of research showing the extent to which pets have become family members.
Regular reader know we refer to this as pet humanization and that it's one of our favorite trends. It's even tangentially linked to the topic of this blog because pet humanization is leading to a lot of small business opportunities.
The key article quote is:
Just how deep are our ties with our pets? According to a recent Nielsen survey conducted by Harris Poll, 95% of U.S. pet owners consider their pets to be part of the family. And in looking at how much we spend on our pets, it’s clear that U.S. consumers are sparing no expense when it comes to their “families.”
The article reports that 62% of Americans have a pet in their household, with Gen Xers (71%) and Millennials (65%) the two largest pet owning generations.
Dogs are by far the most popular - and rightly so in my opinion - with 71% of pet owners saying they have at least one dog. Cats come in second with 49% having at least one cat. Fish are 3rd (11%), other comes in 4th (9%) and birds 5th (8%)
The article has a great quote on pet humanization:
Forty-five percent of owners buy birthday presents for their pets, and 64% buy them gifts on holidays. While Gen Xers own the most pets, Millennials are the most likely to buy birthday presents for their pets: 54% of Millennials give birthday gifts, compared with 40% Gen X, 42% Baby Boomers and 27% Matures (69+). Millennials are also most likely to dress their pets in clothing.
No doubt the embarrassed cat below is owned by a millennial.
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