Pets make you spend more. This is the universal truth confirmed by research scholars who studied how pets influence consumers' buying behavior. They also established that the greater the love people have for their pets, the larger their pet food bill would be.
In South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, the impact of the human-pet relationship on consumption value was the topic of three recent, separate research papers — one for each country.
Filipino pet owner segments
In May 2025, a group of Filipino academicians (Paulino et al., 2025) published their paper on "Dual Cluster Analysis of Relationship-Driven and Purchase-Based Segmentation of the Pet Care Market," which grouped Filipino pet owners by their emotional bonds with pets and spending habits.
Surveying 250 dog and cat owners, they segmented Filipino pet owners based on psychographic attributes — attachment, interaction and human-substitute relationship with pets — and spending patterns, including purchase frequency, spending levels and product preferences.
In the process, they identified three relationship-based clusters: attachment-oriented pet owners, practical caregivers and activity-focused interactors.
Attachment-oriented pet owners, given their strong emotional bond with their pets, are usually more indulgent in spending for a higher level of care and quality. But they are not all necessarily big spenders, the research showed.
Practical caregivers, who don't have extreme emotional attachment with their pets, tend to regularly shop for the right amount of what their pets need.
Activity-focused interactors, which represent the largest group in the respondent pool, prioritize interaction over emotional attachment. They often favor selective or minimal spending on high-quality practical products.
Within each cluster, researchers identified three kinds of shoppers with different spending practices, which they tagged as active pet investors, minimalist pet spenders and selective pet spenders.
Those who frequently buy pet-related products and services within a reasonable budget belong to the active pet investors cluster. Those who rarely shop and spend less are the minimalist pet spenders, while those who choose premium products and services to improve their pets' quality of life — though they seldom shop — are the selective pet spenders.
Citing similar works by their counterparts, the researchers concluded that attachment leads Filipino pet owners to prioritize their pets' needs, driving thoughtful purchasing decisions especially for health-related products. Those who have a reciprocal relationship with their dogs or cats often buy products that facilitate connections. Lastly, those who anthropomorphize their pets — perceiving them as children or family members — purchase high-quality products and have strong brand loyalty.
South Korean pet food spending
A survey of 365 pet owners ages 20 and older, published in July 2025 in Frontiers, listed attributes important to gaining customer satisfaction and loyalty among South Koreans: price, quality, reliability and convenience.
The results yielded this buyer profile: South Korean pet owners actively seek out pet food products that are high quality, safe and made with ingredients that are ethically and, if possible, locally sourced. To feel satisfied and loyal to a brand, they also need reliability and convenience — practical packaging, ease of feeding and easy storage. For them, price is less important than trusted product origins, brand credibility and regulatory compliance.
"While prior studies have emphasized the role of price in shaping consumer behavior, the findings of this study offer a contrasting perspective, suggesting that in the context of Korea's premium pet food market, other attributes may override price sensitivity. This divergence highlights the evolving criteria consumers use when evaluating pet food, especially in rapidly developing markets," the survey said.
When buying pet food, South Korean pet owners often choose higher-priced premium products, including imported brands. A majority — 59.7% — spend more than half their budgets on pet food, particularly dry varieties.
Japanese pet ownership and buying behavior
To learn more about Japanese pet ownership trends and preferences, Cross Marketing Inc. commissioned a study in 2024 with 1,500 survey respondents from diverse demographics.
The study revealed a clear correlation between pet ownership and income. In households with annual income over ¥10 million, 34% currently have pets, compared with a lower rate in families earning under ¥4 million.
But money alone doesn't guide Japanese consumers in selecting a pet food brand. Survey participants indicated they want pet food manufacturers and distributors to deliver on several strategic areas — some of which go beyond pet food itself:
- Develop premium and lifestyle-oriented products for different demographics.
- Offer eco-friendly product options.
- Maintain open discussion about product quality, sourcing and benefits to foster brand loyalty.
- Be transparent about ingredient sourcing and partner with veterinarians to guarantee pet wellness.
- Support pet-friendly spaces and social activities for people and pets.
- Use personalized, data-driven marketing campaigns for specific income and age groups.
- Expand in underdeveloped service areas such as pet insurance, IoT health tools and dignified end-of-life services.
A separate survey on pet ownership and shopping habits in Japan from Equall LIFE, a Japanese digital lifestyle magazine, takes a more intuitive approach. Its premise: specific shopping habits develop over time depending on whether a person owns a dog or a cat.
The survey found dog owners more likely to have brand loyalty than cat owners, because dogs are naturally loyal — a trait owners may mirror unconsciously.
"Dogs are generally thought of as being loyal to humans, sociable, and (can) keep promises. By living with a dog for a long time, an owner tends to unconsciously absorb those qualities," the survey said.
For cat owners, the survey suggested that vendors should work harder to highlight the functional benefits of their products to encourage brand switching.
"If you live with a cat, you may have a more rational way of shopping, enjoying variety and comparison," the survey said.
Implications for brands and policy
All studies agree: a strong human-pet bond is closely linked to increased spending, from pet essentials to pet luxuries. The results offer pet food and pet care businesses solid insights to develop tailored marketing strategies, products and customer programs to meet specific market needs.
Businesses should treat the findings as an actionable guide to align their products with changing consumer demands and build loyalty across every consumer group in a highly competitive sector, the researchers said.
The surveys also carry recommendations for the public sector, particularly around labeling transparency, ingredient traceability and food safety certification. The research papers suggest public-private campaigns to reinforce consumer trust through reliable certification frameworks and transparent communication — moves that could help pet food brands, especially in the countries studied, strengthen their credibility and market position abroad.
