The relationship between pet parents and pet care brands is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Faced with an overwhelming volume of direct-to-consumer advertising, contradictory online advice, and economic pressure, today’s consumers are struggling to evaluate product quality and authenticity.

To explore where pet parents turn to find brands they can truly trust, ECRM EVP Sarah Davidson sat down with Sharon Vinderine, Founder and CEO of Parent Tested Parent Approved for a fireside chat during the recent ECRM Pet Session.

Drawing from PTPA’s community of over 250,000 parents and a recent comprehensive survey of 2,800 pet owners (including targeted data from 200 pet parents), Vinderine shared critical insights into consumer behavior, the rise of artificial intelligence in shopping, the decline of influencer credibility, and how brands can leverage authentic proof to build long-term loyalty. (You can find a downloadable summary of the research here). 

A lack of trust

ECRM: Let’s jump right into the data. The theme of today’s session is who pet parents trust now. There is a widespread view within the industry that the short answer is "nobody" – that pet parents have completely tuned out due to the sheer volume of advertising and content thrown at them across multiple channels. What did your survey reveal about this perceived apathy?

Vinderine: I can definitely see why it looks like consumers have completely tuned everyone out, but they actually haven't. They are struggling to trust. In reality, they are doing the exact opposite of tuning out: they are trying desperately to figure out, among all the endless sources available, who they should actually believe. They are desperate to pick one product over another or one provider over another, but they simply do not know how to make that choice.

Picture a typical scenario: it is 10:00 PM, and you need to buy a product for your pet. You start scrolling online, and suddenly you are faced with a massive wall of choices. You ask yourself, "Now what?" You look at product reviews, but then you wonder how many of those reviews are honest, how many are fake, or how many were paid for. You look at the star ratings, but ultimately, consumers feel like they do not have a reliable framework to evaluate what they are seeing.

To make matters harder, every product claims to offer the same benefits. In our survey, over 700 respondents answered an open-ended question asking what they would say if they were in a room full of brand leaders. One pet parent summarized the dilemma perfectly: "Every pet is so different, but there are so many choices. It feels impossible to know which one to pick."

Because they cannot easily trust online reviews and because household budgets are tighter than ever, economic factors come heavily into play. If consumers cannot verify review authenticity, they either fall back on buying the cheapest item available or end up purchasing nothing at all because the sheer volume of choices paralyzes them.

Whare pet parents going for information

ECRM: Given that confusion, where are pet parents going to find information?

Vinderine: The baseline starts with standard search: 50% of pet parents begin their product discovery on Google. However, AI adoption is accelerating much faster than anyone in the industry anticipated. Across the 2,800 survey responses we gathered, ChatGPT ranked right after Google as a primary source of information.

What makes AI so appealing is its accessibility during off-hours. When a pet parent experiences a problem at 11:00 PM – when their local veterinary clinic is closed or if veterinary care is beyond their immediate budget – they experience panic. Rather than waiting or spending money they may not have, they turn to AI tools to ask immediate diagnostic or product questions.

When I initially reviewed these findings, my assumption was that AI usage was strictly concentrated among younger, tech-native demographics. But the data proved that AI usage is entirely cross-generational. Consumers are turning to these tools because online advice is so saturated with conflicting information. AI promises a consolidated, straightforward answer, even if consumers remain somewhat unsure about the underlying data.

ECRM: Are consumers actively seeking products through deliberate search, or are items simply popping up on their social feeds and prompting impulse purchases? How does that discovery process unfold?

Vinderine: It happens through both channels. Our survey found that one in five pet parents purchased a pet product they first encountered on their social media feed, even though they were not actively shopping for anything at the time. That behavior is common across consumer categories; people see something while scrolling, recognize a latent need, and make a purchase.

Simultaneously, AI is playing a direct role in guiding active shopping journeys. Six out of ten pet parents reported that they have used AI specifically to help them decide on a product purchase. They prompt the AI for a product recommendation, receive an initial list of options, use follow-up prompts to narrow down the selection, and make their ultimate purchase decision based on that algorithmic filtering.

This shift has massive implications for brand strategy. AI models generate recommendations by crawling text-based information across the web – scraping Product Detail Pages, company websites, official product descriptions, and written customer reviews. When a brand creates web content today, that content must serve a dual purpose:

• It must directly educate human shoppers with clear, transparent information.

• It must feed AI algorithms the structured text data required to ensure the product gets pulled into AI-generated recommendations.

Because AI relies on thorough written data, the depth and accuracy of detail included on product pages has suddenly become far more critical than it used to be.

The role of content creators and influencers for pet brands

ECRM: Brands allocate substantial portions of their budgets toward advertising and influencer partnerships. If brands need to refine their digital content to optimize for both consumers and AI tools, is spending money on content creators and influencers still a worthwhile investment?

Vinderine: In short, not really. Content creators have suffered a massive loss of trust among consumers. Years ago, consumers were somewhat naive regarding social media marketing; they did not fully grasp that influencers were receiving financial compensation to promote products. Today's consumers are far savvier.

While influencer content can help a brand show up initially in a user's social feed, it does almost nothing to improve AI search presence. AI search models do not extract structural product data from social video platforms like Instagram or TikTok – with the minor exception of transcribed captions on YouTube. Therefore, influencer campaigns fail to positively impact how your product appears in AI-driven recommendation engines.

More importantly, creator credibility has plummeted. According to our survey:

• Only 13% of consumers say they trust a dedicated pet influencer who is not a licensed veterinarian.

• By contrast, 42% of consumers place their trust in an everyday pet owner who has minimal or no social media following.

Consumers actively prefer unsponsored content created by real everyday owners. Interestingly, one-third of surveyed consumers admitted that they still buy products recommended by influencers, even while acknowledging that they do not trust those influencers. Furthermore, 50% of respondents rated their trust in social media influencers at a bare minimum of 1 out of 5.

Survey respondents expressed deep frustration with paid endorsements. One parent stated: "I no longer trust influencers because I know they're being paid and most likely given a script." Another explicitly noted: "I don't care what a so-called influencer says. I want reviews from real people like me."

ECRM: Who do pet parents actually trust then? Is it their personal veterinarian, or are they turning to veterinary professionals on social media? Can the advice gathered from those two sources create conflicts?

Vinderine: Personal veterinarians remain the number one most trusted source of advice. However, right behind a consumer’s primary veterinarian, a vet operating on social media is the next most trusted figure. Digital veterinary content provides free, immediate advice at 11:00 PM when traditional clinics are closed and inaccessible.

However, our research highlighted a major issue regarding digital veterinary credibility. We asked survey participants a specific question: If 100 pet parents are watching someone deliver pet care advice online, how many of those viewers could say for certainty that the person on screen is a real, licensed veterinarian? The answer was just 6 out of 100.

That is remarkably low. Audiences routinely make surface-level assumptions based on visual cues – such as a creator wearing scrubs or standing in front of a clinic setting. Looking credible on camera is easy, but looking credible is not the same as being verified and trustworthy.

If a brand decides to invest in professional medical endorsements, it is crucial to hire legitimate, credentialed veterinarians and make those qualifications front and center. Brands should not leave consumers guessing. If you are paying a licensed vet to evaluate your product, explicitly tag their professional profile and link directly to a bio detailing their official board certifications and credentials.

When conflicts arise between a consumer's local vet and an online professional, slightly over 50% of pet parents stick with their personal vet. However, one in five (20%) report that they cannot decide who to believe when advice conflicts.

That 20% uncertainty gap represents a major strategic opportunity for brands. In today's digital climate, consumers routinely second-guess expert opinions by cross-referencing claims across Google, AI, and social media. Brands that provide clear, accessible, and verified evidence can step into that gap and capture undecided shoppers.

Does traditional brand marketing still work?

ECRM: Let’s shift focus to customer ratings and reviews. Many brands invest heavily in collecting positive online reviews. Do pet parents actively read these reviews, do they trust them, and how are they interacting with them?

Vinderine: Customer reviews remain one of the top three factors influencing final purchase decisions. However, trust in review authenticity has broken down significantly.

More than 50% of consumers believe that every other review they read online is fake or paid for. As a result, brands receiving legitimate five-star reviews are effectively only getting half the promotional credit they deserve.

Historically, consumers felt confident in their ability to spot fake reviews by identifying poor spelling, odd phrasing, or grammatical errors. But with the widespread availability of generative AI tools, fraudulent reviews are now grammatically flawless, making them far harder to spot. Because consumers can no longer spot fake reviews easily, many now default to a broad assumption: everything is fake or compensated.

To protect themselves, consumers are changing how they read reviews:
Many intentionally filter and sort product pages strictly by negative reviews. They reason that no company pays for negative feedback, making 1-star and 2-star reviews feel more authentic.
Others sort reviews by "Most Recent," looking for raw, uncurated feedback from recent buyers.

When faced with thousands of contradictory reviews – such as scrolling through 5,000 conflicting comments on a single dog food product – shoppers become overwhelmed and ill-informed. In many cases, this review fatigue causes them to abandon the purchase entirely.

ECRM: If influencer marketing is losing credibility and online reviews are viewed with skepticism, where does that leave traditional brand marketing? Are consumers placing trust in what brands say about themselves?

Vinderine: Direct brand marketing inspires very little trust today. Only one-third (33%) of surveyed consumers reported that they trust brand marketing statements.

Over time, corporate brand marketing has become somewhat lazy. Companies stopped doing the hard work of building direct, transparent relationships with consumers, relying instead on paid influencers to tell their story for them.

Brands urgently need to return to foundational brand-building. Modern consumers want to understand a company's genuine ethos, core values, and founding story. They want an authentic human connection with the businesses they support. That brings us directly to the concept of objective brand proof.

ECRM: What actually triggers a brand switch? What specific evidence convinces a pet parent to choose one brand over a competitor?

Vinderine: Objective proof is what moves the needle. Brands frequently spend significant capital on laboratory testing, scientific validation, and third-party data. However, complex scientific data rarely translates into a format that everyday consumers can easily digest or use while shopping late at night. Scientific research on its own fails to tell a relatable human story.

Consider a real-world case study from our work at Parent Tested Parent Approved. A new pet care company was preparing to launch a novel dog food formula. They intended to gather User-Generated Content (UGC) from our testing panel to present to major retail buyers alongside claims that the product was award-winning and highly palatable.

We distributed the product to authentic pet owners within our consumer testing database. The real-world results were dramatic: the dogs refused to go near the food. The negative reaction across our testing group was nearly unanimous.

Rather than burying the data, the company acted responsibly – they were what I call a "brave enough to ask" brand. They recognized that obtaining real consumer validation before entering retail distribution was far better than relying on lab assurances. Armed with our market research, they halted their retail launch, took the feedback to their product development team, and completely reformulated the recipe. They are now re-testing the updated formulation to secure genuine proof points from real pet owners.

The key takeaway is clear: proof points originating from peers – real people whose daily lives resemble the buyer's – are immensely powerful. Independent third-party certifications and seals of approval serve as valuable decision-making shortcuts. If a shopper is comparing five similar products on a shelf or screen, and one clearly displays a trusted independent seal of approval while the other four do not, that seal provides an immediate reason to choose that product.

Undecided shoppers are a huge opportunity for pet brands

ECRM: Our data shows that 50% of consumers want clear proof before switching brands. What about the shoppers who are undecided – the "maybes"? Is a different strategy required for them?

Vinderine: The "maybes" represent a brand's largest growth opportunity. When a consumer sits in the "maybe" category, they are essentially saying: "Convince me. Prove to me that your product performs better. Prove that your product delivers on its claims. Show me an authentic story that proves your brand is worthy of my trust."

The first brand in a category that presents clear, peer-backed proof to these hesitant consumers will be the brand that wins their long-term loyalty.

ECRM: Underlying all of these shopping behaviors is widespread price sensitivity and economic pressure. How severely are household budget constraints impacting these purchasing decisions?

Vinderine: Economic pressures are exerting a massive influence on modern household decisions.

In our study, 25% (one in four) of pet parents reported that they have delayed or skipped veterinary care for their pets specifically due to cost. These are families who explicitly state that their pets are core family members for whom they would do anything, yet inflation and rising costs have forced them to make difficult trade-offs. As one survey respondent shared: "I only want the best for our three dogs, but the prices are becoming too much for us to be able to handle. We've had to cut back on toys and special treats."

Because money is tight, every new purchase feels risky. If a consumer spends money on a product that fails to work, they feel burned. Under these conditions, falling back on price becomes the easiest default choice.

However, this does not mean brands should engage in a race to the bottom by heavily discounting. When you introduce objective proof into the purchase equation, price sensitivity shifts.

Among the pet parents who skipped veterinary visits due to financial constraints, six in ten (60%) stated they would still switch to a superior brand if that brand could definitively prove that its product works better.

Even financially strained consumers are willing to invest in products that demonstrate clear value. But because every brand claims to be the best, marketing assertions are ignored. Proof must come from an independent, trusted third party.

Whether pitching to retail buyers at major chains like Walmart or speaking directly to consumers, presenting uncompensated peer endorsements, authentic market research, and user video clips proves that your product delivers real value. Competing on price alone is a temporary strategy; competing on verified proof allows brands to build lasting customer retention.

ECRM: What are some low-risk tactics brands can use to introduce their products to hesitant shoppers and build early trust?

Vinderine: Offering trial or sample sizes is one of the most effective, low-risk strategies available. Trial sizes remove financial hesitation by shifting the risk away from the consumer.

Consider how beauty retailers like Sephora operate: nearly every purchase includes free product samples. Consumers test those sample sizes at home, fall in love with the results, and return to purchase the full-sized items.

The exact same psychology applies to pet care. In our survey, one in five pet parents identified the availability of a trial size as one of their top three deciding factors when considering a new brand. Offering a trial size communicates a clear message to the shopper: "We are so confident in our product's performance that we are willing to let you try it with minimal financial investment."

Key takeaways for pet brands

ECRM: To summarize our discussion, what are the primary takeaways that brand leaders should discuss with their executive teams during their next strategy meeting?

Vinderine: The single most important takeaway is that trust is the most valuable currency in business today. Unlike financial currencies subject to market volatility, the value of trust only appreciates over time. Every marketing initiative, product detail page, and promotional campaign should focus on building authentic trust with the end consumer.

If your brand possesses data or clinical proof, make that proof visible, clear, and easy to understand. Integrate key proof points directly into your Product Detail Pages so a customer scrolling at 11:00 PM can quickly verify your claims.

Consumers want to trust brands, but they are overwhelmed by aggressive advertising, fake reviews, and sponsored influencer content. Your objective is to simplify their decision-making by providing third-party verification, authentic peer feedback, and transparent product claims.

Brands that are brave enough to ask for real consumer feedback – and bold enough to implement changes based on that research – will successfully transition from being just another item sitting in an online cart to becoming the only choice the consumer trusts.

Editor's note: You can find PTPA on RangeMe as well as at select ECRM Sessions, and check out Sharon's recent RangeMe column about which parent-approved certifications increase credibility here.