Ownership rates hold strong due to steady participation by Gen X and Millennial adults in pet market, while Baby Boomers emerge as most essential consumer segment
ROCKVILLE, Md., April 27, 2015 — From 2010 to 2014, the overall rate of pet ownership has held fairly steady, going from 53% of U.S. households to almost 54%. This equates to 61 million households in 2010 vs. 64 million in 2014, according to U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2015-2016, a new report by market research publisher Packaged Facts.
The percentage of households that own dogs has held steady for the last four years, at about 38%. Since 2008, almost 6 million more dog-owning households have come into the market. Households with cats have basically stayed flat between 2008 and 2014. In 2014, about 25% of U.S. households had cats, or about 30 million households. Overall, more than half of U.S. households own either a dog or a cat. Among other animal types, reptiles have seen something of an increase in popularity from 2010 to 2014. In contrast, households with fish have declined.
The age bracket from 18-44 (Millennials and Gen Xers) represents a combined 27 million pet owners as of 2014, or almost 2 million more than the next major bracket (45-64, essentially Baby Boomers). Pet ownership has shown marked gains among Gen Y adults over the past few years, as ownership rate was just 50% as recently as 2010 but reached 59% in 2014 and was as high as 66% in 2012.
Despite the strong tendency toward pet ownership among 18-44 year olds, it’s Baby Boomers who are poised to be the pet industry’s most influential demographic group. Boomers have broken the historical pattern of slacking off in pet ownership as they age. Instead, they have superimposed their proclivities toward health/wellness and self-pampering onto their pets. In and of itself, this is very good news. But the news gets even better in that Boomers are rapidly aging into the senior bracket (the oldest Boomers turn 69 in 2015). If Boomers’ “rule-breaking” behavior with regard to pet ownership continues, the result will be robust pet market participation in the senior cohort, where pet ownership rates have historically been far below average. On the other hand, if Boomers retroactively revert to traditional patterns of reduced pet ownership among seniors, the market may find itself challenged indeed. Packaged Facts views this latter scenario as less likely, and instead expects the aging Boomer to help drive market growth for many years to come.
U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2015-2016 combines Packaged Facts’ extensive monitoring of the pet market with a proprietary Pet Owner Survey hot off the presses, making it the go-to source for a complete understanding of the U.S. pet industry. The report evaluates current trends and future directions for marketing and retailing, along with consumer patterns across the full spectrum of the market, including veterinary services, pet food, nonfood pet supplies, and non-medical pet services (grooming, boarding, training, etc.). For more information on or to purchase U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2015-2016 or other reports in Packaged Facts’ industry leading catalog of research reports on pet products and services, visit: http://www.packagedfacts.com/pet-products-services-c124/.
About Packaged Facts – Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased at www.PackagedFacts.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.comand www.profound.com.
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