TRAVELLING WITH PETS... OR NOT

Year 2023, , 105 - 112, 30.07.2023

Burcu Selin Yılmaz

https://doi.org/10.17261/Pressacademia.2023.1762

Abstract

Purpose- This study aims to evaluate a mostly overlooked part of tourism literature: the place of pets in pet owners' travel planning process
and travelling. In this sense, the purpose of this qualitative study is to explore Turkish pet owners' perceptions of travelling with pets, and
the reasons behind their willingness and unwillingness to take their pets on leisure trips. This exploratory study aims to examine factors
affecting pet owners' willingness to travel with their pets, to understand their perceptions of travelling with their pets, to explore reasons
behind the unwillingness to have holidays with their pets and to examine difficulties of making holiday plans as pet owners.
Methodology- This exploratory research was conducted in the form of semi-structured and in-depth interviews with 52 pet owners in three
big cities of Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir). Participants of the study were selected according to the principles of criterion sampling and
theory-guided sampling, which are purposive sampling methods. Conceptual analysis as a category of content analysis was employed to code
the findings and identify emerging themes.
Findings- The willingness and decisions about participating in leisure and tourism activities with pets are determined by the bond between
pet and owner, the value attached to the pet, and the pet's role in the family. Pet owners' demographic profiles and characteristics of their
pets determine the type of pet ownership and also affect all decisions made about pets such as participating in leisure activities with pets
and travelling with pets. The participants with higher emotional attachment to their pets had more willingness to take their pets with them
on holiday. Pet owners’ decisions about taking their pets on holiday with them are affected by some constraints stemming from their pets,
themselves, or other conditions.
Conclusion- The results provide an understanding of pet owners’ travel planning and travel experience including pet-related constraints,
negotiation strategies of pet owners, and pet owners' willingness and unwillingness to travel with their pets.

Keywords

Pets, travelling with pets, tourism consumer, constraints-negotiation model, attachment theory

References

• Cohen, S. P. (2002). Can pets function as family members? Western Journal of Nursing Research, 24(6), 621-638.
• Crawford, D. W., Jackson, E. L., & Godbey, G. (1991). A hierarchical model of leisure constraints. Leisure Sciences, 13(4), 309-320.
• Crawford, D.W., & Godbey, G. (1987). Reconceptualizing barriers to family leisure. Leisure Sciences, 9(2), 119-127.
• Curb, L. A., Abramson, C. I., Grice, J. W., & Kennison, S. M. (2013). The relationship between personality match and pet satisfaction among dog owners. Anthrozoös, 26(3), 395-404.
• Daly, B., & Morton, L. L. (2006). An investigation of human-animal interactions and empathy as related to pet preference, ownership, attachment, and attitudes in children. Anthrozoös, 19(2), 113-127.
• Dembicki, D., & Anderson, J. (1996). Pet ownership may be a factor in improved health of the elderly. Journal of Nutrition for the Elderly, 15(3), 15-31.
• Dotson, M. J., & Hyatt, E. M. (2008). Understanding dog–human companionship. Journal of Business Research, 61(5), 457-466.
• Dotson, M. J., Hyatt, E. M., & Clark, J. D. (2010). Traveling with the family dog: Targeting an emerging segment. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 20(1), 1-23.
• Dowsett, E., Delfabbro, P., & Chur-Hansen, A. (2020). Adult separation anxiety disorder: The human-animal bond. Journal of Affective Disorders, 270, 90-96.
• Dwyer, F., Bennett, P. C., & Coleman, G. J. (2006). Development of the Monash dog owner relationship scale (MDORS). Anthrozoös, 19(3), 243-256.
• Fodness, D., & Murray, B. (1999). A model of tourist information search behavior. Journal of Travel Research, 37(3), 220–230.
• Friedmann, E., Katcher, A. H., Lynch, J. J., & Thomas, S. A. (1980). Animal companions and one-year survival of patients after discharge from a coronary care unit. Public Health Reports, 95(4), 307-312.
• Gosling, S. D., Sandy, C. J., & Potter, J. (2010). Personalities of self-identified “dog people” and “cat people”. Anthrozoös, 23(3), 213-222.
• Gray, P. B., & Young, S. M. (2011). Human–pet dynamics in cross-cultural perspective. Anthrozoös, 24(1), 17-30.
• Gretzel, U., & Hardy, A. (2015). Pooches on wheels: Overcoming pet-related travel constraints through rving. In: K. Markwell (Ed.). Animals and tourism: Understanding diverse relationships (pp. 274-287). Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications.
• Haggarty, L. (1996). What is content analysis? Medical Teacher, 18(2), 99-101.
• Henderson, K. A., Stalnaker, D., & Taylor, G. (1988). The relationship between barriers to recreation and gender-role personality traits for women. Journal of Leisure Research, 20(1), 69-80.
• Hirschman, E. C. (1994). Consumers and their animal companions. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(4), 616-632.
• Holbrook, M. B. (1996). Reflections on Rocky. Society & Animals: Social Scientific Studies of the Human Experience of Other Animals, 4(2), 47–68.
• Hsieh, H. -F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288.
• Hung, K. -P., Chen, A. H., & Peng, N. (2012). The constraints for taking pets to leisure activities. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(1), 487-495.
• Hung, K. -P., Chen, A., & Peng, N. (2016). Taking dogs to tourism activities: Incorporating attachment into a pet-related constraint-negotiation model. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 40(3), 364-395.
• Jackson, E. L. (1988). Leisure constraints: A survey of past research. Leisure Sciences, 10(3), 203-215.
• Jackson, E. L., & Rucks, V. C. (1995). Negotiation of leisure constraints by junior-high and high-school students: An exploratory study. Journal of Leisure Research, 27(1), 85-105.
• Jackson, E. L., Crawford, D. W., & Godbey, G. (1993). Negotiation of leisure constraints. Leisure Sciences, 15(1), 1-11.
• Johnson, T. P., Garrity, T. F., & Stallones, L. (1992). Psychometric evaluation of the Lexington attachment to pets scale (LAPS). Anthrozoös, 5(3), 160-175.
• Kaminski, J., Waller, B.M., Diogo, R., Hartstone-Rose, A., & Burrows, A.M. (2019). Evolution of facial muscle anatomy in dogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(29), 14677-14681.
• Kirillova, K., Lee, S., & Lehto, X. (2015). Willingness to travel with pets: A US consumer perspective. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 16(1), 24-44.
• Kurdek, L. A. (2008). Pet dogs as attachment figures. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 25(2), 247-266.
• Maharaj, N., Kazanjian, A., & Borgen, W. (2018). Investing in human–animal bonds: What is the psychological return on such investment? Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure, 41(3), 393-407.
• Marsh, R. (2019). Rising Expenditures on Pets, WWU Honors Program Senior Projects, 104. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/104.
• Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 42(5): 533-544.
• Palys, T. (2008). Purposive sampling. In L. M. Given (Ed.). The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (Vol.2) (pp. 697-698). Los Angeles: Sage.
• Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Podberscek, A. L., Paul, E. S., & Serpell, J. A. (Eds.). (2000). Companion animals and us: Exploring the relationships between people and pets. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Sable, P. (2013). The pet connection: An attachment perspective. Clinical Social Work Journal, 41, 93-99.
• Savishinsky, J. S. (1983). Pet ideas: The domestication of animals, human behavior, and human emotions. In: A. H. Katcher, & A. M. Beck (Eds.). New perspectives on our lives with companion animals (pp. 112-131). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Serpell, J. A. (1987). Pet keeping in non-western societies: Some popular misconceptions. Anthrozoös, 1(3), 166-174.
• Serpell, J. A. (1996). In the company of animals: A study of human–animal relationships. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Serpell, J. A. (2003). Anthropomorphism and anthropomorphic selection – beyond the ‘cute response’. Society and Animals, 11(1), 83-100.
• Shore, E. R., Douglas, D. K., & Riley, M. L. (2005). What’s in it for the companion animal? Pet attachment and college students’ behaviors toward pets. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 8(1), 1-11.
• Stammbach, K. B., & Turner, D. C. (1999). Understanding the human-cat relationship: Human social support or attachment. Anthrozoös, 12(3), 162-168.
• Steiner, E. T., Silver, N. C., Hall, P., Downing, C., Hurton, D., & Gray, P. B. (2013). Raising canine: Cross–species parallels in parental investment. Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin, 1(1), 38-54.
• Volsche, S. (2018). Negotiated bonds: The practice of childfree pet parenting. Anthrozoös, 31(3), 367-377.
• Volsche, S., & Gray, P. (2016). “Dog Moms” use authoritative parenting styles. Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin, 4(2), 1–16.
• Watson, N. L., & Weinstein, M. L. (1993). Pet ownership in relation to depression, anxiety, and anger in working women. Anthrozoös, 6(2), 135-138. https://doi.org/10.2752/089 279393787002295
• Wong, P. W. C., Yu, R. W. M., & Ngai, J. T. K. (2019). Companion animal ownership and human well-being in a metropolis—the case of Hong Kong. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(10), 1729.
• Ying, T., Tang, J., Wen, J., Ye, S., Zhou, Y., & Li, F. (S.) (2021). Traveling with pets: Constraints, negotiation, and learned helplessness. Tourism Management, 82, 104183.