ISSN: 2226-3624
Open access
Nowadays, most Chinese pet owners perceive their pets as family members or friends, however, pet insurance, as a financial tool for transferring the risk of pet ownership, has not received much attention from Chinese pet owners. As a result, this study surveyed 202 pet owners using an online questionnaire to better understand the issue of underutilized pet insurance. In this way, the study described some basic features of pet owners and provided a thorough picture of why pet owners acquire or not acquire pet insurance in China. This study discovered that the majority of Chinese pet owners were women, born after 1980, resided in second-tier cities, owned one pet, had a bachelor's degree or higher, and obtained their pets primarily through purchase or as a gift from family members or friends. Aside from that, most pet owners preferred cats over dogs, and their pets were in pretty good health according to the survey. Furthermore, this study found that for insured pet owners, loving pets and worrying about affordability for pet medical expenses are the most common reasons to purchase pet insurance. The main reasons for not adopting pet insurance are that people around pet owners do not have pet insurance and their pets are in good health. In addition, this study determined the scenarios in which pet owners choose the sort of pet insurance plan. Aside from that, it was discovered that most insured pet owners were content with pet insurance, and some uninsured pet owners were prepared to pay a monthly payment of less than 100 RMB. Hopefully, the major conclusions of this research can provide a beginning ground for scholars and pet insurance providers and improvement of animal welfare in China.
Ackerman, L. (2021). Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team. In (pp. 843-855): wiley.
Anderson, S., Stevenson, M. A., & Boller, M. (2021). Pet health insurance reduces the likelihood of pre-surgical euthanasia of dogs with gastric dilatation-volvulus in the emergency room of an Australian referral hospital. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 69(5), 267-273. doi:10.1080/00480169.2021.1920512
Becker, M., Volk, H., & Kunzmann, P. (2022). Is Pet Health Insurance Able to Improve Veterinary Care? Why Pet Health Insurance for Dogs and Cats Has Limits: An Ethical Consideration on Pet Health Insurance. Animals, 12(13), 10. doi:10.3390/ani12131728
Chaumet, A., Rossi, T. A., Murphy, L. A., & Nakamura, R. K. (2021). Evaluation of owners' attitudes towards veterinary insurance in a specialty hospital. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 62(9), 805-809. doi:10.1111/jsap.13309
Chiu, L. J. V., Li, J., Lhermie, G., & Cazer, C. (2021). Analysis of the demand for pet insurance among uninsured pet owners in the United States. Veterinary Record, 189(1). doi:10.1002/vetr.243
Corr, S. A., Lund, T. B., Sandoe, P., & Springer, S. (2024). Cat and dog owners' expectations and attitudes towards advanced veterinary care (AVC) in the UK, Austria and Denmark. PLoS ONE, 19(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0299315
Geng, X., & Zarina Abdul, S. (2024). An Analysis of the Development of Pet Insurance Market in China.
Iresearch. (2023). China Pet Health Consumption Report. Retrieved from https://www.sgpjbg.com/baogao/116422.html
Petdata. (2024). "2023-2024" China Pet Industry White Paper (Consumption Report). Retrieved from https://petdata.cn/
Revesz, A., & Ozsvari, L. (2022). The perception and experience of pet insurance among pet owners and veterinary practitioners in Hungary. Magyar Allatorvosok Lapja, 144(2), 91-99.
Shaikh, I. M., & Amin, H. (2024). Customers' willingness to choose family takaful: extending the theory of interpersonal behaviour. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 15(1), 100-118. doi:10.1108/jiabr-04-2022-0113
Simonse, O., Van Dijk, W. W., Van Dillen, L. F., & Van Dijk, E. (2024). Economic predictors of the subjective experience of financial stress. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 42, 13. doi:10.1016/j.jbef.2024.100933
Springer, S., Lund, T. B., Grimm, H., Kristensen, A. T., Corr, S. A., & Sandoe, P. (2022). Comparing veterinarians' attitudes to and the potential influence of pet health insurance in Austria, Denmark and the UK. Veterinary Record, 190(10), 10. doi:10.1002/vetr.1266
Srilertchaipanich, C., & Jantarakolica, T. (2015). Evaluating willingness-to-pay for pet insurance premuim in Bangkok. Master Thesis,
Stowe, C. J., Kibler, M. L., & Barrowclough, M. (2022). Horse Owner Preferences for Equine Insurance Policies. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 113. doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2022.103943
Wang, R. (2024). A Study on the Factors Influencing Pet Insurance Purchase Intention. (Master), Retrieved from https://link.cnki.net/doi/10.27106/d.cnki.ghbju.2024.000865 Available from Cnki
Williams, A., Coble, K. H., Williams, B., Dicks, M., & Knippenberg, R. (2016). Consumer preferences for pet health insurance.
Williams, A., Williams, B., Hansen, C. R., & Coble, K. H. (2020). The impact of pet health insurance on dog owners’ spending for veterinary services. Animals, 10(7), 1162.
Wilson, K. L. (2020). Underwriting Criteria, Practices, and Tools of Pet Health Insurance Companies. Connecticut Insurance Law Journal, 27(1), 359-405.
XiYa, G., & Salam, Z. A. (2025). Chinese Pet Owners Dilemma: Underutilized Pet Insurance? International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 14(1), 387–397.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode