Marketing a low cost spay/neuter program

     Spay/neuter is a service that some pet owners simply do not see to be of benefit, so they would not spay/neuter their animal regardless of the price. Therefore, I think that programs promoting spay/neuter must sell the benefits as well as the cost. This will mean the low cost spay/neuter program should heavily market their service by promoting the benefits of spay/neuter. These benefits include reduced risk for some health problems, a reduction in behavioural problems (ie. aggression), elimination of the possibility of a “surprise” litter, and the social benefits (or “warm fuzzies” benefit) of helping to address the problem of animal overpopulation. The marketing/publicity campaigns could also address misconceptions people commonly have regarding the risks or downsides of the spay/neuter procedure. As well some of these marketing campaigns could not only educate pet owners on benefits and costs, they could also attempt to exert social pressure to view spay/neuter as the socially proper thing to do. Many American low cost spay/neuter programs often include television ads, radio spots, billboards, and brochures. Depending on the extent to which these messages are received by the public at large, this can create a positive externality for private veterinarians, encouraging customers to spay/neuter at their practices as well. In addition to a positive effect from marketing, there can be social positive reinforcement, or what has been termed a “bandwagon effect”. It has been found that people tend to spay/neuter more often when they see it as a socially accepted or socially required behaviour for people who have pets. This also may lead low-cost spay/neuter programs to positively affect private-practice spay/neuter procedures.

Not only will there be challenges with convincing lower income households that it is important to spay and neuter their pets but we also have to convince Edmonton area veterinarians that having a program like this will benefit the community and not just take business away from them. As well in our report we are trying to get the EHS to follow our program recommendations. My question would then be how do we change our marketing techniques with each of the three groups, who potentially have different levels of knowledge and different things that they need to get out of the program?