Survey finds Pinterest impacts users' buying decisions

More than half (52%) of the 1,500 active Pinterest users surveyed for the co-sponsored study said that Pinterest plays a key role in their purchase decisions. Just under half said Pinterest recommends relevant products to purchase.

While around a quarter of Pinterest users were not motivated by the site to go on to visit a retailer's website, 32% did go on to purchase an item in a store and 30% went on to purchase something online as a result of viewing Pinterest content.

"The focus of the study was to gain a much deeper understanding of what it is our pinners are doing and how they're using the platform," said Eva Smith, Pinterest's head of marketing communications and insights.

Along with Tumblr, Pinterest was one of the biggest growing social platforms last year with growth of active using rising 94% and 97% respectively, according to GlobalWebIndex via AdWeek's SocialTimes.

Pinterest now boasts around 70 million users, a billion boards and fifty billion pins.

Earlier this year, speculation in the media suggested a 'buy button' for Pinterest was forthcoming. However, Eva Smith, Pinterest's head of marketing communications and insights, told The Wall Street Journal there were currently no plans to announce such a move.

Quka / Shutterstock.com

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: retail, social marketing, social media, social network