1. Introduction
In the past, pets have been fed as watchdogs; nevertheless, they have gradually become members of the family. According to a survey of Euromonitor International, the pet-related market has grown by more than 66% while the global economy has grown by 43% over the past ten years. This shows that the furkid industry is becoming larger-scale [
1]. At present, the fastest-growing market in the world is the pet market, and the turnover of the global pet market in 2018 was US
$124.6 billion, an increase of 4.3% from US
$119.5 billion in 2017 [
2]. Statistically, it is also found that from 2009 to 2019, the number of Americans spending on pets increased from 34 billion U.S. dollars to more than 52 billion U.S. dollars, which represents fast growth [
1]. In addition, in Taiwan, the demand of the pet industry has increased annually. According to the statistics of Council of Agriculture in Taiwan, people raised more than 2.51 million dogs and cats in 2017 [
3]. Therefore, it is considered that pets have been some of human beings’ best friends [
4].
There are a number of researchers who have investigated the human/companion–animal bond for thousands of years [
5]. A two-way interaction viewpoint is perceived as the complication of human–animal bonds [
6]. The American Veterinary Medical Association defines the human–nonhuman animal bond as “a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and other animals that is influenced by behaviors that are essential to the health and well-being of both” [
7]. Despite the fact that owners can obtain direct and substantial benefits (for example, eliminating potential thieves, reducing harmful animals), there is research that reveals that pets can also provide their owners with some positive psychological implications [
8]. Therefore, today, people emphasize the interaction and relationship between owners and pets, since pets can give benefits to human beings not only physically but also psychologically. For instance, it is advised that the owners of pets have the following characteristics: living longer, recovering sooner from sickness [
9], having a lower chance of suffering a depressive episode [
10,
11], relishing their lives (Francs et al., 1985), being generally content with their lives, and experiencing more satisfaction [
10,
12].
Due to the advantages pets provide to their owners, many researchers have studied the relationship between pets and their owners, and some researchers have developed a series of pet scales relevant to pet attachment and attitude. In 1981, the Pet Attitude Scale (PAS) was developed to illustrate its psychometric properties [
13,
14]. Prior scholars wanted to measure people’s attachment to their pets, so they developed the Pet Attachment Survey (PAS) [
15]. The Comfort from Companion Animals Scale (CCAS) was developed to measure the degree of emotional comfort owners perceived from pets [
16,
17]. The prior scholars also developed the Pet Attachment Scale (PAS)m including the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS; [
5])m to measure the behaviors and the relationship between the pets and owners.
Because there are a variety of relevant pet attitude and attachment scales, this study unifies diverse studies and concepts into one general Pet Affection Scale, which mainly adopts the Pet Attitude Scale (PAS) developed by Templer et al. [
13] and the Pet Attachment Scale [
17] conceived.
Traveling with pets has been on the rise in recent years, and this has also attracted many hoteliers to try to find some strategies to attract such consumers, but not all consumers like pets, so there is more to consider when considering pets. To attract pet owners, it is also necessary to consider the mentality of these consumers who do not have pets. Kongtaveesawas and Namwong [
18] indicated that three factors should be considered for the formulation of relevant marketing strategies, including (1) hotel stakeholders, (2) pet-owner consumers, and (3) non-pet-owner consumers. According to Booking.com, there are 374 pet-friendly accommodations in Dubrovnik; however, there are only 10 hotels that are allowing pets out of 374 pet-friendly hotels [
19]. From Booking.com in Taiwan, this research finds there are 425 star hotels in Taipei; out of 425, there are 12 pet-friendly hotels, and only three of them allow pets. According to the information on the above, hotels that allow customers to stay with pets are still not very common. Therefore, pet hotels have a certain potential market.
The purpose of this study is to develop a scale to measure the attitude and attachment of pet owners toward pets. It reports the measurement device, which typically focuses on the bond of affection and behavior between pets and their owners.
These research issues are conducted empirically in the following literature review, methodology, results, and conclusion.
3. Methodology
3.1. Developing Initial Items
All the construct items were derived from previous literature and the opinions of experts. Furthermore, all the items in this study were modified from previous literature to fit the pet hotel industry. This study developed the measurement of the Pet Affection Scale into two steps. First, after reviewing the related literature and eliminating the similar items, this research primarily adopted the items of the Pet Attitude Scale (PAS) by Templer et al. [
13], including 5 items, and the Pet Attachment Scale conducted by Shore et al. [
17], comprising 10 items, which were modified to generate 15 items. After conducting EFA analysis, three subdimensions were adopted: five items of joy, six items of protection, and four items of anthropomorphism. The construct items of behavioral intention were modified from Ryu et al. [
37] to generate four construct items.
3.2. Sampling and Data Collection
In the first wave, after generating the initial items and examining the readability, the scale comprised 15 items to verify EFA. This study included two completely different survey methods to collect data: face-to-face surveys/interviews in Taipei, Taiwan, and feedback using online investigation. Respondents to the online questionnaire are currently raising or have raised pets and have heard of or been to a pet hotel. Respondents of the face-to-face interview are likely to frequently interact with their pet. This research distributed the survey through the Internet and posted it on the mySurvey website in Taiwan. The public interview survey was conducted in Taipei in which approximately 19,000 dogs and cats were kept in Taipei. Moreover, the population of feeding pets has increased annually. Therefore, this study chose people in Taipei who were qualified as the target population in the current research. A total of 450 data were returned, of which 49 questionnaires were invalid. A total of 401 valid data were collected as useful data for this research. Among the 401 valid questionnaires, female respondents (62.1%) were more prevalent than male respondents (37.9%). Among useful respondents, 228 people were between 21 and 30 (56.9%) years of age, and 87 people were between 31 and 40 (21.7%) years of age. More than half of the respondents held a college/university degree (60.6%) and 23.7% of respondents held a graduate school degree. Regarding total monthly household income, 133 respondents (33.2%) earned a total monthly household income of NT$30,000 or less, and 14.7% of respondents earned a total monthly household income of NT$30,001 to NT$40,000. Moreover, 71.8% raised dogs, whereas 28.2% kept cats. Most respondents raised one pet (69.3%), whereas others raised two pets (16.2%).
In the second wave, to verify the research model, the study collected two similar surveys in the first wave. A total of 1050 questionnaires in total were collected, comprising 901 valid questionnaires and 149 invalid questionnaires regarded as formal data for research models. A total of 901 valid questionnaires were received. More than half of the respondents were females (58.0%). Furthermore, in this study, 393 respondents were between 21 and 30 years of age, and 301 respondents were between 31 and 40 years of age. Most of them held a college/university degree (68.0%). For monthly household income, a proportion of respondents in this study were even. More than half of respondents kept dogs, and most of them raised only one pet.
3.3. Data Analysis Methods
SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0 statistical software programs were adopted to analyze the data of this research. Both SPSS and AMOS are statistical software programs frequently used in the social sciences. With flexibility, customization, and automation options, SPSS is easy for beginners to learn. The researchers can use AMOS to draw models graphically simply and perform the computations for SEM quickly to display the results. The fitness of the model structure was tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The framework fitness of the research model was clarified by structural equation modeling (SEM).
3.3.1. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract the underlying structure of a relatively large set of variables. This study adopted EFA with orthogonal varimax rotation to simplify the complex components. Three indicators were included to evaluate the adequacy and appropriateness of EFA.
The KMO was used to measure sample adequacy. The KMO statistic exceeded 0.9 [
38], so the sample is regarded as adequate. Bartlett’s sphericity tests [
39] determined whether the correlation matrix was an identity matrix. In this study, the significance value was less than 0.05; therefore, the factor analysis was adequate. Communality means that an item correlates with all other items. Communalities for all variables should exceed 0.50 [
40], and factors with eigenvalue should be above 1 [
41]. In this study, all the items achieved these criteria, so the levels of explanations were acceptable.
3.3.2. Reliability and Validity Analysis
Reliability measures the consistency. To test reliability, this study measured composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s alpha. Cronbach’s alpha should exceed 0.7 [
42], and CR should exceed 0.6 [
43].
Validity measures the accuracy. Convergent validity and discriminant validity assess the validity. The average variance extracted (AVE) values of convergent validity should exceed 0.5 [
44], and factor loading of all the items should exceed 0.5 [
45]. Fornell and Larcker [
44] indicated that the
t-value should exceed 1.96. Regarding discriminative validity, based on the χ
2 difference test, the χ
2 difference should exceed 3.84 [
44].
3.3.3. Structural Equation Model (SEM)
AMOS 20.0 was adopted to explore the relationship among variables in a research model. Chi-square, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), the adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), the normed fit index (NFI), the incremental fit index (IFI), the relative fit index (RFI), and the comparative fit index (CFI) are indicators to identify the fitness of the CFA result and the SEM model. Furthermore, moderating effects on the variable were tested in the research model.
5. Conclusions
5.1. Discussion
Because people are increasingly raising pets, research on the relationship between pet owners and pets is conducted annually. In Korea, Kim et al. [
48] claimed that due to the increase in the number of companion animals and the positive changes in public perceptions of them, it is necessary to study the relationship between humans and animals. The pet industry in Taiwan and worldwide has been booming, increasing the need for the pet hotel industry. The most important articles discussing PTS in recent years are [
13,
24], but these two articles were published in 1981 and 2004, respectively, which is at least 17 years ago. In the past 17 years, many changes have taken place in the world, and human behavior will also change due to various factors. Especially in recent years, more and more people have started to keep pets, and it is necessary to re-discuss this topic. Therefore, this study sorted out the relevant literature in recent years, re-collected data, and performed a new analysis to provide conclusions and recommendations that are closest to the status quo. Although the data in this study are mainly from Taiwan, the design of the questionnaire is based on the literature from all over the world. Therefore, even if all the respondents are from Taiwan, all the questions are not designed for Taiwan, so the results are applicable to other countries. For example, a study in 2015 pointed out that they compared the attitudes of people in Taiwan and Malaysia toward keeping pets, and the results showed that there are no significant differences in personality traits [
49], indicating that the attitudes of people toward keeping pets in the two countries are totally the same.
This study developed a pet affection scale to measure the behavior of pet owners and their attachment to their pets. Using EFA, 15 usable items extracted three factors, and the reliability and validity were confirmed by CFA. Therefore, three factors of 15 reliable and valid items, referred to as the Pet Affection Scale (PAS), were labeled as (a) joy, (b) protection, and (c) anthropomorphism.
This study discusses the influence of joy, protection, and anthropomorphism on the pet hotels’ behavioral intention of pet owners. The findings indicate that pet owner attachment has a significant positive influence on the behavioral intention of pet owners, meaning that the high level of attachment between owners and their pets increases their willingness to exert more efforts to care for and take their pets to pet hotels.
5.2. Theoretical Implications
As to the theoretical implication, the Pet Affection Scale (PAS) confirmed that the attachment level of pet owners is related to pet owner behavior [
17]; thus, future research can adopt the PAS to foresee owners’ consumption behavior. Owners’ attachment has positive effects on their behavioral intention, consistent with previous studies [
50,
51], indicating that customers are expected to revisit or recommend. Therefore, future research can consider the influence of the PAS on other variables such as consumer satisfaction and loyalty. A previous study noted that employee expertise, behavior, and service attitude have significant effects on consumer satisfaction [
52].
5.3. Managerial Implications
Practically, because of the annual increasing population of people raising pets and the increasing demand for pet hotels, the relationship between pet owners and their pets has become a crucial topic for marketers. This study developed a scale to explore the attachment between pets and their owners. Based on the PAS, the level of attachment owners have for their pets determines their willingness to exert efforts to care for their pets, including attention, money, and time. Therefore, marketers can base their promotion and advertising on the degree of pet owner attachment in the PAS to emphasize the affection between owners and their pets.
5.4. Limitations and Future Research
This study has several limitations that future research should improve. The population of pet owners raising dogs and cats is distinct, so future research should improve the proportion of dog and cat owners to conduct an in-depth investigation. This study did not discuss the number of years people raise pets. Therefore, it can be used as a factor to explore whether raising pets for longer periods has an influence on pet owner attachment and affection.