What Promotes the Familialization of Companion Animals?

Managerial and Technological Background to the Increase in Animal Funeral and Cemetery Services

Abstract

This paper examines the managerial and technological background to the increase in the number of animal funeral and cemetery services to reveal its impact on the practice of treating companion animals as family members. Although previous studies have focused on the reasons for increased animal funeral and cemetery services owing to companion animals being regarded as a substitute for family from the perspective of changes in family consciousness and religious views since the 1980s, this research sought to provide a more nuanced understanding of the trend by exploring the role of market competition and the spread of mobile pet crematories. The analysis drew on management information materials for animal funeral and cemetery services and newspaper articles. The findings suggest that the increase in the number of animal funeral and cemetery services since the 1990s has been driven by market competition associated with the spread of mobile pet crematories, which has lowered the barriers to entry for various business managers and diversified the forms of animal funeral and cemetery services. However, this has also intensified competition, leading some managers to engage in malicious and commercial-minded practices that have caused social problems. In response, some managers have sought to differentiate themselves by emphasizing the treatment of companion animals as family and have pursued a fixed income by adding value to their services. These findings suggest that the managerial and technical conditions surrounding animal funeral and cemetery services have influenced the familialization of companion animals.