Profiling Italian cat and dog owners’ perception of pet food quality in purchasing habits

Abstract

Background. In these last years there is a growing sensibility of public opinion towards pet animal, that involves also an in increasing attention on their nutrition, seen as a way to guarantee welfare. However, it is difficult for the consumer to understand the quality of a product because label information is not always clear to the consumer. The aim of the study is to identify through a survey the pet food characteristics that are seen as quality indicators for pet owners. Results. In total 935 surveys were collected. Descriptive statistic showed a higher percentage of female owners (61.8%) among pet food buyers. Participants were divided almost equally between dogs owners (39.4%), cats owners (30.8%) or both dogs and cats owners (29.8%). A quarter of owners (25.5%) asked for advice to veterinary on which pet food to buy and about a third (30.4%) trusts in web sites of major brands, giving both of them an higher responsibility in providing information to the buyer. “Contain natural ingredients” was the characteristic with the highest score (4.3 on 5), confirming nowadays market trends. Correspondence analysis for age showed that older owners (>65 y) put more attention on costs, with low emphasis on food appearance, animal satisfaction and fecal quality. Younger owners (<35 y) put more attention on positive influence on animal feces, high percentage of protein, presence of recyclable packaging and less attention at food appearance, smell and animal satisfaction. Appearance, smell, higher cost and some label indication (protein content, presence of fresh meat, low grains content) are relevant for consumers buying wet pet food. Some differences are showed between owners of different animal species. Cat owners give more importance to appearance, smell and production site, dog owners focus on protein content, presence of meat as a first ingredient and higher cost. Conclusions. Italian pet food buyers, considered as the most important quality indicators the presence of natural ingredients, while the least important was the high price. Information from this survey can help the pet food companies to identify the factors that influence the perceived quality of the products by dog and cat owners.