Pinterest

Pinterest is an American based social media web and the phone application company. It uses software created to facilitate discovery and to acquire data from all over the world using smaller scale and image, videos, and GIFs. The site was created by Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp, and Ben Silberman. Recent research derived from Competes Online Shopper Intelligence Survey indicated that around one-quarter of the web participants had spent enormous time on the image-centric platform compared to how the amount of time they have spent on other types of social commerce (Wilkinson, 2013). The report also indicated that around twenty-five percent (25%) of the participants had undertaken a purchase after discovering commodities on Pinterest. This revealed the reason why the platform has gained much awareness from various purchasers throughout the globe (Murphy, 2014). The web is currently having over twenty million participants (20m). MediaPost. Com released a research study indicating the massive rise of Pinterest and suggested that there is great importance for the firms to embrace the strategies of social media marketing. Based on the report, Pinterest has managed to convert and introduce consumers to constant social media participants. More precisely, fifteen percent (15%) of the participants stated that they only preferred Pinterest, and they were never willing to use any other advertisement platform.

Based on the most known interest groups of Pinterest, more than half of the participants were charmed by the food images posted on the platform (Zamrudi et al., 2019). Forty percent of the total participants claimed that they were moved to use Pinterest as a result of the home ideas found on the platform. The other part of the participants, thirty-four percent (34%), were drawn to Pinterest as a result of crafts and arts.  And, finally, thirty percent (30%) were drawn to using the platform as a result of the fashion. Approximately one-quarter of the total participants were intrigued by the general products, travel, humor, and vacation displayed on Pinterest (Rhue, 2012). Marketers need to concentrate more on such categories of such interests from the consumers since they give insight into the robust the sectors under which the most substantial social marketing opportunities can be derived from.

The table above highlights the number of people who participate in Pinterest and the degree of purchase made by each group of persons. The results indicate that Pinterest is gaining massive interest from varying groups of people (Zamrudi et al., 2019). Hence, most of the consumers are conducting purchases as a result of the influence they acquire from the platform. The survey conducted indicated that the users who have socialized in Pinterest have sufficient knowledge of the diversity of the content found in the platform. The content varies from vacation destinations and recipes. The participants who engaged in the study suggested the content they most like to engage in while using Pinterest; this plays a significant role in offering an opportunity for the marketers. Marketers can recognize the potential areas where they can invest their marketing strategies (Maharani et al., 2016).  Pinterest has a considerable influence on consumer purchases, particularly for customers who preferred food-related content. Consumers participated more widely in the food associated content. Based on the Online Shopper Intelligence Survey, around seventy-five percent (75%) of the purchasers engaged in the food-based content. The report concluded by indicating that Pinterest is raising brand awareness and, at the same time, influencing consumers’ purchase behavior. Influence of consumer behavior means that consumer purchases are also affected. Hence Pinterest has a positive impact on consumer purchases and tends to increase the level of purchases amongst the consumers. Around twenty-five percent (25%) of the consumers claimed to have made the shopping of particular products are discovering those products in the Pinterest; the rate shifted to thirty-seven percent amongst the males (37%).

According to the latest data released by Pinterest, it shows that ninety-three percent (93%) of Pinterest participants make use of the platform to undertake purchases. In comparison, fifty-two percent (52%) make the purchases as a result of discovering something of interest to them in the platform. The act of consumers purchasing commodities from the interest as a result of the influence of images and posts made on the platform as a good indication that the platform has a significant impact on consumer purchases. The platform has a positive effect on consumer purchases. Research indicates that Pinterest is believed to be a superior tool necessary for driving consumers to make purchases compared to other types of social commerce platforms.

Since Pinterest is a visual platform and engages in lending itself to a more non-intrusive form of advertising, most people would opt for it to evolve and turn into a one-stop-shop for the purchasers. In December 2015, Pinterest unconfined a unique feature that would offer the purchasers notifications whenever there is a decrease in the price of the commodities that the purchasers had pinned (Tech Crunch, December 2015). The user can be able to get an email or an app notification allowing him/her to access the trends of the price on the pinned commodities, this, in turn, enables the consumers to purchase commodities directly using the Pinterest app. The availability of the Pinterest apps that allows the consumers to access the information regarding the pinned commodities plays a significant role in influencing consumer purchases (Hambrick et al., 2015). Consumers can recognize the most appropriate time under which they can acquire the commodities at a relatively lower price. However, there exists very little research regarding the influence of Pinterest on consumer purchases outside the US. Most of the researchers have investigated the impact of Pinterest only in the US.