Pet Ownership and Related Consumption Practices: the Role of Morality

This paper considers the role of morality in the consumption practices associated with pet ownership. To explore these practices, we adopt Holt’s (1995) Typology of Consumption Practices. A photo-elicitation technique is used to elicit stories from fifteen participants concerning their cats and dogs. Our findings illustrate the complexity of consumption in this arena and highlight a potential opportunity for re-working Holt’s (1995) typology to include an additional metaphor of consuming as morality. The paper concludes with a discussion on the value of our extended framework and highlights the implications for future cultural studies of consumption