Families and companion animals in a contemporary world: A case-study of bodies, minds and emotions in Brazilian cyberspace

The objective of this paper is to present the research of images and messages addressed to the pet owners, posted on news and advertising sites on consumer behavior in Brazilian cyberspace in the period between 2005 and 2011. We found a wide variety of pet products, similar to those available to their owners, such as clothing, food, shampoos, toys, and also services, such as day care, in a process called humanization of animals for the pet care industry.

Remarkably, we note that the posts were addressed directly to the pet owners. Many messages were written in order to stimulate owner emotions and feelings through their animals, in a process that can be called sentimental anthropomorphism. We find products with marketing messages similar to those of products for children, women and people of luxury goods high consumers.

We must recognize that the identification of a person and a pet is present in the act of consumption. Nevertheless, we believe that this type of relationship could not be explained simply by the utilitarian point of view in the sphere of social interaction.

As Berry (2008), we think that most powerful humans impose, consciously or not, their values to the less powerful. In the same way, humans are relatively free to make their own choices about their appearance and modify their bodies and behavior, while non-humans are subject to human choices about their appearances.

However, we believe that in families in which people daily interact with their pets, new meanings emerge from this contact. In many situations, people interact with your pet as a "person" or a member of the family, or a unique and special living being.