RALEIGH, NC. — On Aug. 2, FWV Fetching, the division of French/West/Vaughan (FWV) serving the pet and animal health industries, shared new research on the impacts of advertising on pet product brand discovery. According to FWV Fetching, traditional advertising drives more discovery for consumers compared to any other marketing channel.

FWV Fetching commissioned the survey, which includes responses from nearly 1,500 US pet parents aged 18 and up. It was conducted online from June 28 to 30, 2023, by The Harris Poll on behalf of FWV Fetching.

According to the survey, two in five pet parents claimed to use traditional advertising (print, radio or television) to receive information about pet products and brands. Of these respondents, 46% are ages 45 to 54 and 36% are ages 18 to 34; 46% live in the Northeast and 34% live in the West.

Though traditional advertising remains the most popular method for pet parents to discover pet brands, review sites and digital advertising are also common methods with 29% of respondents reporting using review sites and 24% reporting using digital advertising.

Regarding digital advertising, older pet parents are the least likely to utilize this method to discover pet products. Fifteen percent of those ages 55 and up and 21% of respondents ages 45 to 54 report using digital advertising, whereas 30% of respondents ages 35 to 44, and 33% of respondents ages 18 to 34 claim to use digital advertising. In line with this, pet parents 55 years old and up are also the least likely to use official product or company social media pages to discover new products and brands, whereas 27% of respondents ages 18 to 34, 20% of respondents ages 35 to 44, and 16% of respondents ages 45 to 54 are likely to use social media.

For social media overall, about one in five pet parents shared they use human (22%) or pet (19%) social media influencer pages to learn about pet products and brands.

According to FWV Fetching, only 14% of pet owners reported not using any type of marketing channels to discover pet products.

“Although the pet products and marketing industries have both evolved and transformed in response to new technologies, tools and digital offerings in recent years, our research shows that some of our tried-and-true methods of reaching consumers are still relevant for a majority of pet owners,” said Kristen Levine, founder and special counsel at FWV Fetching. “That said, as older generations age of out of pet ownership, it will be critical for members of the pet care community and their marketing partners to utilize and prioritize the channels younger generations are frequenting, like human and pet social media influencers, for example.”

Stay up to date on the latest pet food processing industry headlines on our News page.