Cat cafés have become an increasingly effective and popular means of adoption. Pogash (2014) posited that pet owners may experience more relaxed and friendly cat behavior in an uncaged café setting, especially among older cats with medical issues. Von Essen et al. (2020) echoed this suggestion and emphasized that effective animal tourism is reliant upon good quality living conditions and low-stress interactions with humans. While cat cafés have the potential to commodify human-animal interaction, they also offer pet owners an approachable means of adoption. The casual ambiance, comfortable furniture, and food and drinks provide a low-stakes opportunity to meet and socialize with adoptable cats. In this way, potential pet owners build strong connections with the café cats through hands-on experience across multiple visits (Pogash, 2014). Furthermore, Robinson (2020) adds that individuals who are unable to adopt visit cat cafés to reconnect with their love for animals. In return, they provide entertainment and enrichment for the café cats that would be less frequent, if not nonexistent, in a shelter setting (Robinson, 2020). However, Robinson suggests that this low-responsibility relationship with adoptable animals can easily become one-sided and discourage new generations from permanent cat adoption. To combat this, Pogash (2014) reported that Oakland’s Cat Town Cafe significantly reduced the price of cat adoptions to ensure affordability, most notably offering cats with medical issues free of charge. 

Unconventional means of adoption can act as a draw for local communities and prompt individual families to consider a pet for the first time. Kilgannon (2000) reported on an adoption event in Manhattan where over 100 people applied for ownership of 3 kittens named after characters from the popular TV show Gilligan’s Island. However, many attendees complained about the difficulty of pet adoption when such high demand existed for the cats present (Kilgannon, 2000). Similarly, Pogash (2014) depicted a “comically” long line of customers waiting outside Cat Town Café on the morning of its first opening, demonstrating a high demand and potentially competitive adoption market. Both of these sources suggest that large crowds within unconventional adoption environments may become an obstacle to more intentional future pet owners. Additionally, Robinson (2020) suggested that a significant portion of the audiences attracted to cat cafés prioritize temporary animal companionship over long-term adoptive arrangements. Therefore, it is possible that cat cafés may be a more effective means of animal tourism than animal adoption, with the cats acting as “staff” (Robinson, 2020) or “performers” (Von Essen et al., 2020) rather than adoptable individuals in need of a permanent home. An increasing population of cat cafés in the United States may mitigate this challenge, but Von Essen et al. (2020) argue that animal tourism, which thrives on novelty, may be rendered less successful by its own growth. However, Pogash (2014) contradicts this idea, as multiple cat café owners reported the popularization of cat companionship as a result of the human-animal interaction that took place in these establishments. 

(Maggie Hoppel)

According to the literature, there are many small businesses and organizations who are always looking to improve their online marketing strategies while using social media. Both Ali & Shaiq (2023) and Wahid et al. (2023) proposed that social media is a key global communication tool that helps businesses bring customers and brands to their business. In the current state of physical stores and markets, they are losing customers to online shopping. The research highlighted how customer satisfaction was a major factor for influencing online purchasing behavior. Due to the abrupt transition of in-person shopping to online shopping, Ali, & Shaiq (2023) focused on the key factors such as brand switching, social media engagement, electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), and social media advertising. Umashankaret al. (2024) stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic; the social and economic trends intensified the overlap of work and personal life. They discovered that in response to some companies that now market their products as solutions that address both work and life needs, their study suggested that marketing and advertising perspectives can offer additional, valuable insights into how consumers navigate the work life interface with social media methodology. This shift illustrated how digital platforms have transformed from simple promotional tools into dynamic spaces for brand consumer interaction, data analysis, and behavioral insight. (Umashankaret al, 2024, p. 2) Together, their findings are increasing the complexity of digital marketing in the post-pandemic era. For small businesses to increase their consumer engagement, they must not only adopt social media tools but also cultivate the attention and understanding of their audiences with strong data strategies for their companies/businesses, and engage more in the fast-growing digital platforms.

Now that there are some understanding for the state of the in-person market transitioning to advertising for the online market; Xu et al. (2023) and Wahid et al. (2023) researched the customer engagement for all social media platforms and created designs and strategies to improve their consumer interaction and engagement with social media advertisement, consuming (viewing their content), contributing (liking and sharing the content), and creating (commenting on the content). Their study focuses on the contributing and creating levels, using likes, shares, and comments as key metrics that can increase more consumer engagement with more interactions that come from the consumers. Wahid et al. (2023) reasoned that on platforms like TikTok; the online advertisements and content are publicly visible and can influence others to engage due to social proof. (Wahid et al., 2022, p. 110) Research show that both financial and nonfinancial benefits increased purchase intent, sales, and customer value. Morrison et al. (2024) Spoke about the use of social media platforms such as Facebook for advertising animals that are available for adoption. On Facebook, the content and information from all consumer engagement on posts about animal shelters have increased as of current analysis before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study of this resulted in the use of social media to increase the engagement of posts depicting adoptable animals, but more research is needed to determine how the content of posts influences adoption rates.

(Vy Nguyen)

According to the literature, businesses that are looking to grow their clientele and profits can assess several facets of their business to enhance customer satisfaction. Ko & Chiu (2008) and Torlak et al. (2019) investigated what factors affect customer satisfaction at café-restaurants and coffee shops, respectively. In addition to observing the physical businesses, identification of these factors can come from the analysis of customer engagement on social media (Wahid et al., 2022). According to Torlak et al. (2019), the quality of the food and beverages significantly impact how satisfied customers were (p. 1916). Ko & Chiu (2008) determined that price is an important motivation for university students when choosing which coffee shop to patronize (p. 91). Torlak et al. (2019) found, however, that loyal customers with high satisfaction levels from the specific café are less likely to “consume other products” (p. 1907) even when prices increase. One source determined that customers' loyalty and likelihood of repurchasing from a particular brand or business is directly affected by their satisfaction levels (Torlak et al., 2019, p. 1917). Ko & Chiu (2008) asserted that customer satisfaction is “the mediating role between brand attitude and revisiting behavior” (p. 90) and is the most significant aspect that university students consider when choosing a coffee shop to buy from. 

After understanding what affects customer satisfaction, recent literature can help businesses implement changes to increase sales and better serve customers. For businesses with a physical location, Ko & Chiu (2008) suggested having “well-trained employees” (p. 90) to better the brand image of the business. Physical businesses such as cafés can also find convenient locations for their stores and adjust the layout inside the store in a way that customers will approve (Torlak et al., 2019, p. 1916). In addition to having a physical location, some businesses have an online component. According to Changchit & Klaus (2015), many small businesses have websites but lack the capability for electronic commerce (E-commerce) due to a lack of knowledge and money (p. 4). The authors note that with the option of E-commerce, businesses can be more profitable as well as build a better relationship with customers (Changchit & Klaus, 2015, p. 12).  One specific industry that can be expanded with the help of technology is animal-based tourism, where the novel idea of “drone-based thermal images and camera trapping” may increase revenue while simultaneously protecting animal welfare (Von Essen et al., 2020, p. 8). It is important to note, however, that not every business can benefit from utilizing new technologies; for example, some small businesses offer services or products that cannot be sold online, so those businesses cannot partake in E-commerce (Changchit & Klaus, 2015, p. 10). 

(Valarie Wong)