• by Tanya Gazdik , October 29, 2019

“Pet parenting” is reshaping the landscape for the consumer packaged goods and retail industries, according to a study.

Pets are big business, with pet owners spending upwards of $74 billion annually, according to Bigeye, an Orlando, Florida., ad agency that fielded the study. 

For the 2019 Pet Industry Study, in-house researchers conducted a 45-question online survey of 784 pet owners aged 25 to 55 across the United States.

Ninety-five percent of owners consider pets members of their families.More than a third (34%) of owners said their pets even influenced where they live.

Pet owners are the new parents, and young people especially see their pets not as a luxury, but as a necessity they’re willing to splurge on, said Adrian Tennant, vice president of insights at Bigeye, who led the research team. 

“They’re dressing their pets up, giving them nutritional supplements, and basing where they live around them, just as they would with human children,” Tennant says in a release. “And they’re increasingly open to subscription-based services that enhance convenience.”

Bigeye set out to augment its knowledge base for developing successful marketing strategies for pet care companies. It also sought to develop a free resource for organizations that provide pet products and services. 

“This shift toward humanizing our pets will dramatically affect everything from product design and distribution to brand premiumization,” Tennant says. “In particular, strong generational preferences will drive placement in media-buying strategy. Smart brands will listen to the voices of their customers and adapt to these changes.”