"Innovational shelter adoption programs keep a finger on the pulse of trends in adopter preference. Paying careful attention and adapting to how people make decisions about the pets they bring home can make a significant difference in length of stay, adoption, and return rates for animal shelters. One noteworthy trend is the dramatic increase in disintermediated consumer decision-making, indicating an increasing preference for the removal of intermediaries in a supply chain, including that of shelter animal adoption. At Friends For Life, we have designed and implemented an adopter-centered adoption counseling program based on a disintermediated approach similar to that of online dating algorithms. This unique, choice-based approach in pre- and post-adoption counseling has resulted in a marked improvement in adoption matching metrics and has more than doubled the rate of adopter feedback, allowing us to provide adopters with timely counseling when they are experiencing troubles with their newly adopted companion animals and thereby preventing adoption returns. After attending this presentation, attendees will be able to: Recognize disintermediated decision-making behavior in consumers, in particular when applied to pet adoption Identify the effects of adopting a choice-based approach to pre- and post-adoption counseling Apply the concept of choice-based approach to adopter interface to a shelter adoption program "

Sponsor:IAABC Foundation
Speaker(s):Melissa Taylor

Contact:
 Email: questions@iaabcfoundation.org
 Web: https://iaabcfoundation.org/animal-behavior-conference