Infographic: Dog, cat food brand importance to US buyers

The American Pet Products Association’s 2017-2018 National Pet Owners Survey examined how pet owners in the United States view the importance of brand.

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The American Pet Products Association’s (APPA) 2017-2018 National Pet Owners Survey examined how pet owners in the United States view the importance of brand when buying dog and cat products, including food. [see infographic below]

What is in a brand name? A cat food by any other name would still smell like fish. Overall, millennial pet owners considered brand more important than other generations. Among millennial, on Generation Y, dog owners, 23 percent considered brand name to be very important when making a purchase decision on a pet product. That figure dropped to 15 percent among Generation X, 14 percent for baby boomers and 11 percent for builders, the generation alive during World War II. Pure-bred dog owners also considered brand name more important.

Similarly with cat owners, millennials (26 percent) considered brand names more than other generations. Male owners of cats took brand name into account at a higher rate than women.

Pet food spending in the United States

In 2017, pet owners in the United States spent more on their dogs, cats, birds and other creatures than ever before, according to the APPA. Consumers spent US$69.51 billion in 2017. The 2017 pet industry spending numbers surpass the previous year's by nearly three billion dollars (US$66.75 billion spent in 2016), a 4 percent growth.

The largest percentage of total pet product spending in the US was on pet food. Approximately, $29.69 billion of the 2017 total went to pet food, according to APPA statistics.

Pet ownership in the United States

During the past two decades, pet ownership has risen consistently in the US, according to the survey. Sixty-eight percent of US households include a pet. Considering that the most recent census reported 124.6 million households, approximately 84.6 million households own pets. Of those households, 46 percent included multiple types of pets.

Dogs are the most common pets in the United States, followed by cats and then birds. Dog, fish and bird owners exhibited the highest rates of being married, while owners of small animals, fish, birds and reptiles were more likely than average to have young children at home. Cat and reptile owners tended to be unmarried at higher levels than the general population.

How National Pet Owners Survey was conducted

The National Pet Owners Survey included responses from 2,559 pet owners from various parts of the United States.

The survey included respondents from four generations:

  • Gen Y (millennials) – aged 18-36; born 1994-1980
  • Gen X – aged 37-51; born 1979-1965
  • Baby boomers – aged 52-70; born 1964-1946
  • Builders – aged 71+; born 1945-1920

Respondents answered one of eight sets of questions about specific types of pets, including dogs, cats, reptiles, freshwater fish, birds, saltwater fish, horses and small animals. Ipsos, Inc. conducted the survey.


Dog, Cat Food Brand Importance To Us Buyers infographic v2

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