On Our Minds: The New Pet Bandwagon – to Jump or Not to Jump?

If everyone else jumped, would you? Turns out that if everyone jumped into pet ownership, the answer might be yes.

As has been widely reported, animal shelters all over are sitting mostly empty, which means that happy pets have found homes, and have, presumably, made the homes happier for it. Getting a pet during these dreary days of isolation amounts to mutually beneficial instant gratification. You may have seen the social media status updates featuring adorable new family members named Ginger, Lucky and Spike! As social animals, we're prone to conformity, says RBC behavioral economics expert Michael Sherman. "People tend to fall prey to herd mentality," he says, so you, too, may get the urge to jump on the pet bandwagon.

But what happens after the bandwagon moves on?

We're in the thick of this pandemic, and it can feel like there's no light between the trees. Sometimes it feels like we'll spend every Saturday night from now until eternity clinking virtual glasses with friends on Zoom. And all future vacation days will consist of – we're not sure – staring at the wall? It can seem that economies will continue to teeter indefinitely.

But this disruption won't last forever. We will once again board airplanes. We will meet friends at restaurants. We will re-enter office buildings. We will put on pants of the non-sweat variety (remember those?). And, historically speaking, the markets should at some point recover.

That means you may not be able to loll around the house with Rover all day every day for the rest of his life. And this begs the question: Who will walk him during the day if your inevitable return to the world involves a return to the office? Who will watch him (and give him cuddles and scratch him in that special spot he likes and heat up his food to the exact right lukewarm temp) when you finally get to take that trip you've been itching to take? In short, at the risk of sounding like your mother, who's going to take care of the dog when you're not around?

Behavioral science tells us we as humans give more weight to the here and now than we do to the future. "Say you owe someone $1,000," says Sherman. "And let's say you tell them you can give it back to them in a month, or they could take $900 now instead. Studies show many people would consider taking the $900 now, even though it is a steep discount for just a month's wait." This is because we are susceptible to what's called present bias, says Sherman. "It's almost like we think of our future self as a totally different person," says he, and it can eclipse our vision of the long-term, cause us to defy logic and veer our decision-making off course from our plans.

"Fast thinking tends to be biased thinking," says Sherman. So whether you're considering adopting a new pet, buying the "It" stock du jour, or selling your holdings en masse, before you jump on the bandwagon, it is important to take the time to think through your unique situation and how the decision may affect you – today and in the future.