Deep Analysis! The spending behaviour of pet slaves who makes the pet market grow unstoppable.
Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘Love Me Love My Dog’? This phrase can describe the behavior of consumers who love dogs well and it is very suitable for August 26, which is World Dog Day.
World Dog Day was first established in 2004 by Colleen Paige, pet and family expert. The aim of this day is to raise awareness about the abandoned dogs each year and to increase the chances for every dog to live happily and safely.
In Thailand, dogs are one of the most popular pets because many people see them as a representative of honesty and they can be a friend to play with and to relieve loneliness. Combined with the phenomenon of Pet Humanization, the dog market has grown exponentially, even in the epidemic situation of COVID-19.
What is Pet Humanization? Why is it driving the pet market to grow exponentially?
As lifestyles in the society are changing, more people turned to raising animals, especially dogs. In addition, they treat them like family members, not just a pet and this is considered as Pet Humanization because the pet owners do not view themselves as owners, but as the father or mother who takes care of them and devotes both their money and time to raise them as if they are a human being.
Morgan Stanley, an American financial services and investment management company defines this behavior as Petriarchy, better known as ‘dog slaves’. The love and obsession of these dog slaves also has led to an increase in pet spending.
Let’s get to know the 4 factors that drive Pet Humanization to grow.
The Pet Humanization trend has become infinitely popular, with four main factors supporting:
- More single people : Nowadays, many countries around the world tend to have a slower marriage and more single people.
- More childless couples : The new generation tends to delay having children or decide not to have children at all for a variety of reasons such as the current social and economic conditions and health factors.
- Pets help relieve loneliness for the elderly : Due to the fact that Thai society in the present has begun to enter an aging society, the proportion of people aged 60 and over is over 23% by 2022.
- The impact of COVID-19 makes more people live at home : The epidemic changes the way people live. They prefer to live at home until home becomes a place where everything can be done. Therefore, having a dog as a friend and child to relieve boredom and stress is very popular.
With a growing demand from the 4 factors above, it’s causing more supply as well. At present, there are many dog-related products and services from each breed of dog food, various health services, care equipment, toys, clinic or hospital to pet hotels, including many startups that have developed on-demand dog care platforms in many services and various distribution channels. Therefore, it is so easy for people to buy these products that the pet market is growing rapidly.
This is why Pet Humanization has become the main reason for the booming pet market, especially dog products because the number of dogs in Thailand is more than 8.9 million, which is more than 62% of the total number of pets in Thailand.
Did you know that the pet market is one of the businesses that are growing against the economic trend?
It is expected that the global pet business in 2026 will be worth 6.9 trillion baht. Only in Thailand, it will be worth around 40 billion baht, which means that it will grow on average 10% every year and pet owners will spend around more than 15,000 baht per year.
Many businesses which see this opportunity, therefore, add various pet products and services to increase their sales. For example, Grab has added Grab Pet, a travel service exclusively for people with pets and Nok Air has offered special flights, ‘This flight takes your pet on a trip’ whereby pets are allowed to travel with the owner on the flight.
In addition, the pet products export market has also received huge attention. Thailand is considered to be the world’s 4th largest pet food exporter by an average of 5.35 thousand tons of pet food and valued at more than 44.7 billion baht.
During the past crisis, many businesses might encounter problems from the spread of COVID-19 or a lot of inflation, but the pet market is one of those businesses that continues to grow and expand rapidly because owners choose to save personal expenses to purchase pet goods and services instead.
The more owners have a good relationship with their pets, the better the pet market is expanding.
A study from Goldsmiths University in England found that dogs can sense their owners’ melancholy emotions. It has a way to comfort and alleviate sadness by coming to snuggle for warmth. It causes the love and bond between the owner and the pet as if they were real family members or relatives. Combined with the people’s lifestyle that live at home more, it increases the sale of pet products every year, especially food, which is an important factor in the health of pets growing.
Therefore, this is an opportunity for pet business owners and entrepreneurs to attract more customers to your brand by planning the production to meet the needs of the market such as
to facilitate the size of the packaging to be larger, to extend the storage period for a long time, and to increase the nutritional value with good quality ingredients that are beneficial to the health of pets, according to the production standards in accordance with international hygiene principles.
If anyone is interested in pet products marketing, but don’t know how to start and need more information, you can contact HelloAds, an integrated online marketing agency.
