Cat owners vs. dog owners: Study reveals one group clearly donates more to charity
'Pet ownership was the fourth most important factor, after income, education, and gender.'
If you love dogs, then research says you're most likely a social butterfly who loves meeting people. But if you like cats, then you're often viewed as introverted. While pet owners have often been in the research spotlight, a new study has uncovered fresh perspectives on the personalities of cat and dog lovers. Yes, that's right! Dartmouth College researchers have reportedly found that cat owners donate more money to charity than dog owners.
For their study, researchers analyzed data from 788 million transactions made by 63 million donors between 2013 and 2022. The research focused on donations ranging from $20 to $100,000 and noted how often people donated. Moreover, they also looked at their personal details like their age, gender, income, political views, education level, and, of course, whether they owned pets or not. After collecting the data, the researchers used a machine learning model to study it and found that those who had cats donated a little more money than dog owners. Interestingly, cat owners were also found to give money more frequently to a wider variety of causes. "Of the variables studied… pet ownership was the fourth most important factor, after income, education, and gender," the study explained. Between 2013 and 2022, cat owners donated a total of $780 through 15 donations. On the other hand, dog owners had only donated $700 across 13 donations. Besides, the research also found that among those surveyed, people who didn't have pets at all had donated the most to charity.
"My research shows how pet ownership reflects complex personality differences, even when it comes to philanthropy. They’re not huge divergences, but they are meaningful and reflect everyday intuitions toward dog and cat owners," study author and social scientist Herbert Chang said. These kinds of differences in donation behavior could be potentially useful for marketers trying to reach the target audiences, as per Chang. This study is specifically interesting because it also challenges the stereotype associated with people who choose cats over dogs. Naturally, dogs are more affectionate than cats, and so society often thinks that people who like cats must be emotionally distant. But that's not true at all. In fact, a story that can immediately change your perspective is that of a man who loved cats so much that he left his inheritance to a bunch of them who live in a Russian museum.
The basement of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, is actually home to nearly 50 cats. Well, what's more fascinating is the fact that a generous man from France decided to leave his inheritance to help take care of the cats. "Our French friend did a very good thing; this is brilliant PR for both the cats and charity. The sum is not very big but it’s very important when the person writes a will, when the French lawyers contact (us) and it’s all not a simple (process) but this is all very interesting, isn’t it?" he told CNN.
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