摘要：This study examines the concept and impact of breed loyalty in the pet industry. The
authors create a breed loyalty scale then look at what are the influencers of this type of loyalty.
Adding other pet owners and veterinarians to the list of role models that have been studied then
extends the consumer socialization and role model literature. Various features of the dog breed
themselves are examined, such as size, temperament, trainability, cost etc, and these features are
then compared with the influence of role models on breed loyalty. The results indicate that the
major influencers of breed loyalty are parents, breeders, other pet owners, TV commercials and
the trainability aspect of the dog. The research also focuses on the influence these role models
have on pet owners buying intentions in pet food, types of pet toys, brand of toy, and brand of
pet medicine categories. Interestingly the results indicate that TV commercials on their own are
not the most effective way to influence a consumers purchase intentions, but perhaps by
including the other role models into these advertisements (such as showing a parent suggesting a
specific brand of pet medicine), their effectiveness could be greatly increased.
关键词：Loyalty, Socialization, Role Models, Pets, Retail Sales, TV Commercials
