The American Pet Products Association (APPA) has released its National Pet Owners Survey: Generational Report, which delves deeper into data trends and buying behaviors of pet owners by generation.

Whereas the 2015-16 APPA National Pet Owners Survey only breaks down a few select pieces of data by generation, the new Generational Report is designed to help businesses, media and others identify trends among builders, baby boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, often referred to as millennials.

“It’s critical that the pet industry pay close attention to trends in pet ownership by generation as the largest segment of the population (37%), baby boomers, continues to age,” said Vetere. “We can reasonably expect that, as this group ages, there will be instances where they are unable to care for their pets or are unwilling to replace them and thus pet ownership will start to decline within this demographic. The new Generational Report gives us valuable insight into how the behaviors and trends of current and future generations of pet owners are evolving. Most importantly, this gives us a solid snapshot of where we need to be focusing our efforts to ensure continued growth in the industry and in pet ownership.”

Reporting data by generation has become more common across many industries in an attempt to learn how consumers behave differently according to their age, and the new Generational Report is the first of its kind for the pet industry. The following are some areas of research found in this exclusive report:

  • How the four generations behave differently by leisure activities in which they participate
  • The amount of time they spend using various media
  • Veterinarian visits and the services they obtain
  • Which generation is willing to spend more on their pets’ health
  • Generational preference toward different types of pet foods and treats
  • Which generation purchases more gifts and holds parties for their pets
  • How the presence of children influences each generation

Further broken down by pet type, the report includes everything from how each generation becomes aware of pet products, types of products purchased, toy and gift purchases, top expenses, brand name importance, where their pets are obtained, and more.