Pet Owner psychology when buying products for their pets?
When someone is buying a pet product, eg a pet bed, what sort of things are they willing to to
For example
- they spend a lot of money
- they buy for themselves rather than their pets
the sort of people who have a lot of money
what is their psychology about buying pet products
any help or advice would be helpful
i know its confusing but for GCSE product design i am doing a pet product and i have to look at owner psychology
thanks
Feb 19, 2010 | 2 | pet products
February 20th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Firstly, as a pet owner, you ask yourself if the doggie bed (for example) would actually be used by the dog. If the dog is going to jump in bed with you anyway, or prefers the cool floor, you don’t buy it. Then you would have to look at size. You wouldn’t buy a huge bed for a toy poodle. Then you look at what is in your budget. It’s a dog, not a child. You do look at materials that you think would be comfortable. You might ask if this is something that is going to travel well in the car. Can you put it in the washer or would you have to replace it if it gets peed on or something.
February 20th, 2010 at 12:51 am
I can help you out! I work in a pet shop and also did Graphic Design at GCSE level too! I did products based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
A lot of pet products on the market are designed to appeal to HUMANS. For example, we have a line of puppy toys where I work that have pastal colours and look a lot like baby toys- there’s even ‘teething keys’ and a ’soothing blanket’, things you’d normally associate with a baby. So that gives the sort of ‘aww’ factory, baring in mind a lot of people treat their pets (especially dogs) like babies, and the human mind is also geared towards babies and these ‘cute’ puppy toys makes it more likely for people to be attracted to them.
But it’s not all just the colours. The products also have to be practical and useful. Going to your idea of a pet bed, we sell these massive dog beds at £129 a pop. Why would someone be willing to buy a bed for this much?
1.) It is huge and could fit even a good size German Shepard in it, which is good for big dog owners, but it could also fit several smaller dogs, which is nice if the dogs like to cuddle up together.
2.) It is made of leather on the outside and is chew resistent, which means it should last the whole of the dogs’ life.
3.) The inside is washable.
4.) It is a nice, neutural colour which would look nice in anyone’s living room.
The key factors in a good product for animals (especially dogs and cats, I’ve noticed that for small animals there isn’t so much focus) is that it appeals to HUMANS. A cat doesn’t give a toss if the thing it is chasing looks like a small woollen duck in a pastal pink shade- they just enjoy chasing it! People are willing to spend a lot of money if a product is-
- Practical.
- Cute/appeals to them because of the way it looks, or the way it is packaged (for example, a lot of our best selling dog treats are packaged like human food or biscuits), even down to an ingredients list.
- A good price for what it is (£129 for the bed described above is a good price, considering it could last an adult dog 10 or more years, but £20 for a kitten bed that the cat will outgrow when it hits six months is stupid).
The important thing you need to realize that any product for animals is actually marketed to appeal to HUMANS, and not animals. Animals don’t care what it looks like or how it is packaged- but humans do.