Daily Research News Online no. 2924 - Ipsos Tracks Cats and Dogs

Ipsos Tracks Cats and Dogs

February 13 2004

Ipsos-Insight, provider of human health purchasing survey PharmTrends(r), has announced a complementary syndicated service to track American consumers' purchase of cat and dog health products, called Ipsos PetTrends(SM).

The service tracks cat and dog owner purchasing of both prescription and non-prescription health products for pets through Ipsos' America Shoppers' Panel. It covers treatment of ailments ranging from allergies and behavior management disorders to fleas and ticks, plus cat and dog food purchases where linked to a particular health condition.

The American pet industry is a highly competitive market estimated to be worth over $30 billion, with food and veterinary care the largest areas of consumer expense. With Ipsos PetTrendsSM, manufacturers and marketers can determine the impact of strategies such as direct-to-consumer advertising and professional marketing to veterinarians on trial and brand share, buyer loyalty, brand switching, compliance and persistence, according to Fariba Zamaniyan, a pharmaceutical industry expert and Vice President of the Ipsos Health Practice.

'Ipsos PetTrendsSM is built on Ipsos-Insight's experience in the human health sector', explains Zamaniyan. 'PharmTrends has been successful in assisting drug manufacturers within human health to determine the effectiveness of their direct to consumer promotions. Our objective with PetTrends is to provide the same tool for the Animal Health sector'.

Initial results show that almost three times as many pet prescriptions and OTC medications are purchased for dogs as for cats, and that the most common dog treatment purchase (one quarter of all purchases) is for external parasites - fleas, mites, and ticks.

Susan Jones, a veterinarian and market researcher with Ipsos, believes that 'DTC (direct-to-consumer) advertising and the Internet have revolutionized the way consumers manage their personal health care, and the animal health industry is set to experience the same market boom'.

The America Shoppers' Panel is a longitudinal consumer panel of 16,000 households. Ipsos PetTrendsSM began collecting data in July 2003 and is offered on a syndicated basis, which is available for immediate access. More information is available at www.ipsos-insight.com/health/publications/petTrends/index.cfm

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.