Animal-assisted therapy

Marketing

Ecology

Biology

Actuarial science

Microeconomics

Social psychology

Accounting

Animal spirits

Economics

Business

HUBzero

Willingness to pay

Contingent valuation

Veterinary medicine

CATS

Psychology

Public economics

Valuation (finance)

Internal medicine

Medicine

Animal rights

Pet therapy

Animal welfare

Journal of Business Research

Results of three experiments reveal that consumers place a higher economic valuation on dogs versus cats, as evidenced by willingness to pay more for life-saving surgery, medical expenses, and specialty pet products, as well as increased word-of-mouth about the pet. This effect is explained by consumers' enhanced psychological ownership of and resulting emotional attachment to the pet. The effect is reversed when a dog acts like a cat and a cat acts like a dog and is due to the perceived ability to control the animal's behavior rather than other attributes intrinsic to the pet. This research offers a first look at psychological ownership of a living creature and its effect on economic valuation.

Dogs have masters, cats have staff: Consumers' psychological ownership and their economic valuation of pets