The Pet Economy

• In Event: 50602 - Culture, Value(s), and Relationships in Economic Life

Abstract

We ask what the pet economy, that is, buying and selling of pet products and services, together with financialization of the veterinary markets and rise of pet insurance, tells us about the changing cultural value of pets. Using U.S. household spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (1996–2023), we demonstrate growth in overall spending and across different expenditure categories, especially pronounced for pet food and veterinary services. Notably, these trends hold for child and non-child households and across household income, indicating that pet spending is not a substitute for child investments nor solely a feature of affluent lifestyles. Additionally, we examine the rising influence of corporate and private equity in the veterinary market and the expansion of pet insurance as key factors driving the financialization of pet care that has further accelerated the growth of the pet economy. Content analysis of messaging in strategy reports and in product advertisements shows how they promote the new cultural understanding of pets not just as animal companions but as members of the “multispecies family,” with humans, increasingly referred to as “pet parents,” prioritizing their pets’ health, wellbeing, and longevity. Overall, we argue that financial activities reflect cultural shifts in humanization of pets as much as capitalization of the pet economy also reinforces pets’ new social value.

Authors

• Nina Bandelj, University of California-Irvine

• Yana Kuchirko, CUNY-Brooklyn College

• Michelle Spiegel, Stanford University