Dog and Cat Owner Demand for Veterinary Service Payment Plans

By: Bir, Courtney ; Wolf, Christopher A. ; Widmar, Nicole Olynk
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Citation

Bir, Courtney ; Wolf, Christopher A. ; Widmar, Nicole Olynk, Dog and Cat Owner Demand for Veterinary Service Payment Plans, Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Volume 46, Issue 2, May 2021, Pages 308-324

This paper examines U.S. pet owner demand for veterinary service payment plans. Results revealed a strong preference for discounts and promotions for veterinary pet care. Examining specific attributes for a wellness plan revealed that respondents were clearly willing to pay more for preferred pricing compared to discounts for multiple pets. Respondents were indifferent between payment plans that distributed costs across 12 months compared to 6 months. In absolute terms, dog owners were willing to pay more than cat owners. However, when normalized by mean prices for dog versus cat veterinary service pricing, there were no statistically significant differences.