Dogs have masters, cats have staff: Consumers' psychological ownership and their economic valuation of pets

Results of three experiments reveal that consumers place a higher economic valuation on dogs versus cats, as evidenced by willingness to pay more for life-saving surgery, medical expenses, and specialty pet products, as well as increased word-of-mouth about the pet. This effect is explained by consu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business research 2019-06, Vol.99, p.306-318
Main Author: Kirk, Colleen P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attachment
Cats
Dogs
Economic valuation
Pets
Psychological ownership
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Summary:Results of three experiments reveal that consumers place a higher economic valuation on dogs versus cats, as evidenced by willingness to pay more for life-saving surgery, medical expenses, and specialty pet products, as well as increased word-of-mouth about the pet. This effect is explained by consumers' enhanced psychological ownership of and resulting emotional attachment to the pet. The effect is reversed when a dog acts like a cat and a cat acts like a dog and is due to the perceived ability to control the animal's behavior rather than other attributes intrinsic to the pet. This research offers a first look at psychological ownership of a living creature and its effect on economic valuation. •Consumers will pay more for surgery, insurance, and specialty pet products for dogs than cats.•Valuation differences are due to consumers' feelings of ownership and attachment for dogs vs. cats.•Perceived control of the pet's behavior drives consumers' feelings of ownership and valuation.•These valuation differences are reversed when a dog behaves like a cat and a cat behaves like a dog.
ISSN:0148-2963
1873-7978
DOI:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.02.057