Barking good business - the use of animals (pets) in Marketing

Thursday 23 February at 2 p.m. Assistant Professor Adele Berndt will be holding her docent/associate professorship lecture at Jรถnkรถping International Business School.

Animals are big business in modern economies, with billions of dollars being spent on food, clothing and services related to pet ownership. In past times, animals have worked for their human masters by assisting in various tasks, including hunting.

Today however, their role in households has changed, with many animals being regarded as a part of the family (pets) and treated as surrogate children. Marketers have identified this changing trend in society and incorporated this into the products and services marketed to pet owners. This presents exciting opportunities for business and all the aspects of marketing. Examples are seen in how animals are used in advertising campaigns.

Adele Berndt holds a PhD in Business Administration and is Assistant Professor in Business Administration, Marketing & Logistics at Jรถnkรถping International Business School since February 2012. The lecture is her docent/associate professorship lecture.

Adele Berndt is South African by birth. After receiving her doctorate in 2001 from the Rand Afrikaans University (later the University of Johannesburg), her academic career started in 2002 at RAU.  She left UJ in 2009 and moved to Monash South Africa, which is the South African campus of the Australian university.

Adele Berndt is Researcher of the Month at JIBS. Read more here