Care for Differences between Dog & Cat People

A year 2010 Anthrozoös article reported personality differences between “dog people” and “cat people.” The University of Texas-Austin and Atof, Inc researchers said people who prefer dogs are more likely to describe themselves as self-disciplined, outgoing, and altruistic, characteristics corresponding to Big Five personality traits of Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness. In contrast, cat fans came through as relatively higher on Big Five traits of Neuroticism and Openness, which include characteristics such as worrying and—fitting when considering cats’ reputation—curiosity.
     Among other things, the Big Five model of personality has been used to characterize shopper preferences and suggest selling approaches. A year 2022 Journal of Marketing article contributes to consumer psychology from the perspective of another classic personality assessment model—Regulatory Focus Theory, which describes promotion-focused and prevention-focused mindsets. Promotion-focused consumers continually search for opportunities to move closer to their ideal selves, while the prevention-focused are always alert to avoiding losses from what they have now. Promotion-focused consumers take more risks than prevention-focused consumers.
     The University of Massachusetts, University of South Carolina, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University authors of that article claim dog people are more likely to be promotion-focused and cat people, prevention-focused. The researchers relate these findings to how, compared to cats, dogs are typically more receptive to change and to rewards.
     Aside from the personality model used, the 2022 study is different from the 2010 study in identifying the range of ways these pet preference differences are demonstrated and in showing how consumers can be prompted to be a dog or cat person even when not owning one or the other pet. Dog owners were more likely than cat owners to invest in risky stock options and favor a pet toothpaste which claimed to freshen breath versus prevent gingivitis. These sorts of differences between dog and cat people were seen not only when study participants were screened on the basis of actual pet ownership—people who owned both animals excluded—but also when study participants were simply asked at the start to think about experiences with one or the other of the pets or were first exposed to an ad with text reading either “Be a dog person!” or “Be a cat person!”
     Many people like both animals, and valid personality assessment models describe differences along dimensions, with few people at an extreme. Still, attending to differences between dog and cat people could help guide marketing.

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