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What Drive Pet Food Choices? A Systematic Literature Review
School of Natural and Social Sciences, Scotland’s Rural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2025, 15(22), 3235; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15223235
Submission received: 9 October 2025
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Revised: 1 November 2025
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Accepted: 4 November 2025
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Published: 7 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Companion Animals)
Simple Summary
The global pet population has increased significantly over the last decade. As with the growing pet population, the pet food industry is also growing rapidly worldwide. Although new products continue to be developed and introduced in pet food markets every year, insights into consumer behaviour towards pet food products have remained largely underexplored. This review aims to summarise the various drivers that affect pet owners’ purchase decisions of pet food products. Intrinsic and extrinsic product characteristics, psychological, biological and physiological, socio-cultural, and situational factors were identified as the key factors driving pet owners’ pet food purchase decisions. This work reveals a highly fragmented nature of the state-of-the-art in the field of consumer behaviours towards commercial pet food products, with most studies focusing on only several aspects of the drivers. It also provides the gaps in the extant literature and potential research directions for future consumer behavioural research in this domain.
Abstract
The rapid expansion of the global pet food industry has intensified interest in understanding the factors shaping pet owners’ purchasing decisions. This systematic literature review synthesises evidence from 40 peer-reviewed studies published between 2006 and 2024 to identify the key drivers of consumer behaviour toward commercial pet food. Following PRISMA guidelines, articles were retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Findings reveal six main categories influencing purchasing behaviour: intrinsic and extrinsic product characteristics, psychological, biological and physiological, sociocultural, and situational factors. Product quality, ingredient composition, price, brand reputation, sustainability, and pet health status emerged as consistent determinants of choice. The review highlights that consumer behaviour toward pet food remains a developing research field with limited cross-regional studies and methodological diversity. Future research should expand geographically and explore the intersection of sustainability, pet welfare, and owner psychology in pet food decision-making.
Keywords:
pet food; pet owners; preferences; attitudes; drivers
