AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
What Happens After the Pin?
Examining How Pinterest Influences Users’ Motivation and Behavior
Megan Patterson
American University School of Communication
Advisor: Joseph Graf
Spring 2015
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AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This master’s thesis is dedicated to the following people. Without you, I would not have made it
through this process, or the entire master’s program, with my sanity intact:
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To my thesis advisor, Joseph Graf, for your patience in teaching research methods to this
communication student who has a very limited capacity for understanding SPSS.
•
To my thesis seminar group members, Jordana O’Grady and Tracey Willmott. Our
brainstorms, carpools and proofreading sessions have made this process more enjoyable.
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To my fellow graduate student Olivia Chen. I appreciate that you saw the potential in this
project and reached out to me to offer your statistics knowledge.
•
To my fiancé, Dan Alt, for listening to me rant about Pinterest for hours, for being the
person off whom I can bounce ideas, and for sitting in silence while I talk in circles.
•
To my parents, Joe and Peggy Patterson, for your unwavering love and support for the
last twenty-five years. You inspire me to work hard each and every day.
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ABSTRACT
Pinterest is the fastest-growing website in history, reaching 10 million unique monthly
visitors in the United States more quickly than any other standalone social media site. The
image-based social media platform has a large following of users, most of whom are women, and
is commonly known for its plethora of recipes, do-it-yourself (DIY) projects, and home décor.
However, Pinterest has a wealth of information presented in a visual format that allows users to
envision these projects and see the results. Previous literature has reviewed users’ motivations to
come to Pinterest, yet there is a gap in the research about what happens after a user pins. This
study focuses on two questions: do Pinterest users intend to act on the pins they curate, and does
Pinterest motivate users to change their behavior?
I conducted an online survey of 345 Pinterest users between the ages of 19 and 64. I
found that the majority of Pinterest users use Pinterest with the intention of acting on most pins
they curate at some point in the future. Eight-five percent of respondents agreed or strongly
agreed that Pinterest made them think of something they would like to do in the future. Slightly
less than half of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Pinterest motivates them to do
something new or change their behavior. One third of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with
the statement, “I have changed my behavior based on the pins that I saw on Pinterest.”
The strong correlation between planned behavior and perceived behavior change suggests
that Pinterest does have the ability to motivate users to change their behavior, and there is a
significant difference between the perceived behavior change of heavy Pinterest users and that of
light Pinterest users. This research found that Pinterest serves as a memory bank or “idea
warehouse” for users, which thrives in a highly positive online community. Users’ planned
behavior, the positive emotional connection to the site, and the ability to use Pinterest as an “idea
warehouse” demonstrates that this social media site has substantial influence.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 5
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. 5
List of Appendices .......................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 6
Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 8
Section I: Adopting Pinterest ....................................................................................................... 8
Section II: Examing Behavior through Activities, Language and Gender ................................ 11
Section III: Uses and Gratifications Theoretical Framework .................................................... 16
Section IV: Theory of Planned Behavior................................................................................... 20
Research Questions....................................................................................................................... 21
Research Methods......................................................................................................................... 21
Section I: Sampling Method ...................................................................................................... 21
Section II: Sample...................................................................................................................... 22
Section III: Procedures............................................................................................................... 23
Section IV: Survey..................................................................................................................... 23
Results........................................................................................................................................... 24
Section I: Key Concepts............................................................................................................. 24
Section II: Other Factors............................................................................................................ 29
Section III: Relationships between Planned Behavior and Related Concepts........................... 30
Section IV: Qualitative Data...................................................................................................... 32
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 35
Section I: Interpretation of Findings .......................................................................................... 35
Section II: Study Limitations ..................................................................................................... 39
Section III: Future Directions for Research ............................................................................... 40
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 41
References..................................................................................................................................... 62
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Respondents’ Favorite Pinterest Categories ................................................................... 43
Table 2. Where Respondents Find Pins to Repin (n = 345) ......................................................... 44
Table 3. Respondents’ Three Most Recent Pins ........................................................................... 44
Table 5. Emotional Connections to Pinterest. (n = 345)............................................................... 45
Table 6. Reliability of Concepts Measured, Cronbach’s Alpha ................................................... 45
Table 7. Bivariate Correlations Between Concepts Measured ..................................................... 45
Table 8. Heavy Users vs. Light Users: Comparing Means of Concepts via One-Way ANOVA. 46
Table 9. Coding Open-Ended Responses into Categories: 25 Most Common Themes. .............. 47
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Screenshot of Pinterest’s home page............................................................................. 48
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A. Survey Questions..................................................................................................... 49
Appendix B. Recruitment Language............................................................................................. 61
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INTRODUCTION
Pinterest is the fastest-growing website in history, reaching 10 million unique monthly
visitors in the United States more quickly than any other standalone social media site (Constine,
2012). Founded in 2010 by Ben Silbermann, an ex-Google employee; Evan Sharpe, an
architecture student from Columbia University; and Paul Sciarra, a Yale University graduate,
Pinterest grew from 5,000 users in August 2010 to 17 million less than two years later. The site
had more than 70 million total users (Horwitz, 2013) as of 2013, and 53 million unique visitors
per month. Yet the power and reach of Pinterest has yet to be fully understood or harnessed by
communication professionals.
Pinterest is an image-based social media platform. Users will “repin” images from their
Pinterest home feed, or from other places around the Internet, onto their own “boards,” or virtual
pinboards, that are often themed and meticulously categorized. Users can also “like” and
“comment” on images – called pins – that they can endlessly scroll through the various feeds.
The site features clean lines, with pins arranged in a grid-like pattern that emphasizes the users’
focus on the image. The text located below the pin, in the form of a description, comments and
even the name of the person who pinned it, is less prominently featured. See Figure 1.
The site has a large following of users, most of whom are women, that finds images both
online and on the Pinterest feeds to repin, like and comment on. According to Pew Research
Center, Pinterest had 70 million users as of December 2014. Its popularity has grown
significantly since its launch in 2010; 15% of all online adults were Pinterest users in 2012, to
21% in 2013, to now 28% in 2014. This data can be compared to users on Facebook (71% of all
online adults), LinkedIn (28%, the same percentage as Pinterest), Instagram (26%), and Twitter
(21%). Forty-two percent of online women use Pinterest, compared to 13% of online men; and
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17% of users say that they use the site every day (Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart, & Madden,
2015). The average Pinterest user in the United States has 67 followers and curates 24 different
“boards,” which they use to organize their collection of images.
Pinterest is a topic that requires more research in order to begin to understand users’
habits, motivations, and emotional connections to the site. Hall and Zarro (2013), who
researched the activities of Pinterest users, describe the platform’s unique characteristics:
“The actions and behaviors observed on Pinterest offer valuable insight to information
practices in a social web environment … The Pinterest interface operates on a simple grid
based layout [see Figure 1] with strong support for social browsing (Lerman & Jones,
2006) and serendipitous discovery.” (p. 2)
The site has a large following of dedicated users, and manages to sustain a highly positive
community. The pins often encourage users to take action – like making a recipe, trying a work
out, or doing a do-it-yourself project. These ideas are presented in a visual format that allows
users to envision these projects and see the results. Unlike other social media sites, there is
anecdotal evidence that the users actually follow through on their plans. Bloggers will report on
trying pins, and repost their success onto Pinterest to encourage others. Others will document
their “Pinterest fail,” projects that looked ideal online but had less than desirable results. Every
day Pinterest users are trying new things, yet this concept of intention into action has been
undocumented.
Literature surrounding Pinterest is still new, given that the site was only created in 2010.
Studies have been conducted on best practices of using Pinterest (Hansen K., 2012), why people
come to Pinterest (Lee and Mull, 2014; Bakhshi, Chang, Gilbert, and Terveen, 2013) and what
they are pinning (Hall and Zarro, 2013). However, one very important factor has gone unstudied:
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How does Pinterest affect user behavior? Pinterest can be a source of inspiration,
encouragement, and ideas for users; yet there is a hole in the literature surrounding what happens
after the pin. Do Pinterest users intend to act on the pins they curate? And if so, does Pinterest
motivate users to change their behavior?
This paper will examine Pinterest users and investigate if the media they consume on this
platform influences their motivations and affects their behaviors. First, I will review the literature
surrounding Pinterest, including the studies conducted on adopting social media and the
motivations for using Pinterest. I will review the theory of uses and gratifications, which most of
the literature utilizes. Second, I will describe my research methodology, which will consist of an
online survey of Pinterest users, their habits, and their self-perceived behaviors. Third, I will
discuss the results of my survey in the larger context of the literature on Pinterest, and my chosen
theoretical framework of planned behavior. Finally, I will review the limitations of my research
and the potential topics for further study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Section I: Adopting Pinterest
Pinterest is the fastest-growing social media site in history, having crossed the 10 million
unique monthly visitors faster than any other Internet site. The image-based social media
platform has 53 million unique monthly visitors, most of whom are 18- to 34-year-old upperincome women from Middle America (Constine, 2012). Users can choose to find pins from the
home feed, comprised of pins from users they follow; the “everything” feed, which features pins
added by every user most recently; the “ideas” feed, which Pinterest curates through an
algorithm that predicts what users are interested in based on their previous pins; and the search
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bar, which allows a user to search for a specific word or phrase. Pins are also organized
categorically, with 32 different categories that users can browse.
The earliest studies on Pinterest began with a comparison to other social media platforms.
Sago (2013) concluded that students use social media most often when it is easy to use, when
there is an element of enjoyment or entertainment, and when they perceive that the platform will
be useful to them in some way. Facebook had the highest rate of adoption (94.9%), followed by
Twitter (31.8%), Pinterest (30.3%), and Google+ (22.1%) (p. 5). Sago conducted this research by
reviewing the habits of 195 undergraduate students and their usage of Facebook, Twitter,
Google+, and Pinterest. He studied users’ perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and
enjoyment levels and their effects on frequency of use.
Pinterest had the largest difference in social media adoption between genders in this
study: 54.4% of women were Pinterest users, compared to just 1.1% of males. Sago found that
the factors of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are stronger factors of adoption of
social media for women than men. Given disparity in gender among Pinterest adopters, this
finding could allude to the higher levels of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of
Pinterest for women than for men. Sago notes the anomaly of adoption in Pinterest between the
genders, suggesting that the difference in adoption rates might be due to Pinterest being “the
most visually-oriented with the least text-based communication focus” (Sago p. 9).
Sago’s mention of Pinterest’s visually oriented nature suggests another trend in the
literature about the site. Peregrin (2012) notes a trend of shorter communication methods,
suggesting that people “are consuming this material in very different ways — which means
consumers want abbreviated or bulleted information” (p. 1,934). The site’s popularity reinforces
the theory that short-form communication is becoming more popular, as well as the focus on
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visual communication that “gets you in” to learn more. He conjectures that Pinterest has, in part,
become popular due to media consumers’ decreasing attention span. Pinterest offers easily
understood messages via photos, images, and videos. It continues the trend of short-form
communication on which micro blogging platforms (e.g. Twitter and Tumbler) capitalized.
Lee and Mull (2014) found that fashion, creative projects, cuisine, entertainment, virtual
exploration, organization and social connections1 were the most common themes behind
Pinterest users’ motivations in using the site. Three of these gratifications – creative projects,
virtual exploration, and organization – were specific to Pinterest, having not been found in any
previous studies about social media use. These three themes came up frequently in this study’s
quantitative and qualitative results.
Lee and Mull conducted their study based on the uses and gratifications theory. McQuail
(1983) had previously identified four gratifications for social networking sites: entertainment,
information, personal identity, and integration or social interaction. Lee and Mull built upon this
uses and gratifications foundation of social media motivations by conducting a two-level survey
to suggest a set of gratifications specific to Pinterest users. They used an online qualitative
survey from 27 college students to generate a list of descriptive terms, and then a quantitative
survey of 243 college students that unearthed which unique dimensions of motivations are
pertinent to Pinterest.
While Lee and Mull investigated what brought users to Pinterest, Bakhshi, Chang,
Gilbert, and Terveen (2013) explored what drives activity when the users are on the site. They
1 Fashion was defined by the key words:
“style, outfits, fashions, clothing, shop.”
Creative projects were defined by the key words: “crafts, creating, DIY, creative, projects.”
Cuisine was defined by the key words: “recipes, food, cooking.”
Entertainment was defined by the keys words: “entertaining, enjoy, ease to use, everyday life.”
Virtual exploration was defined by the key words: “inspiration, ideas, interesting, learning.”
Organization was defined by the key words “browse, collection, all in one place, boards.”
Social connection was defined by the key words: “other people, friends.” AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
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found that repinning is the most common activity on the site, followed by liking and
commenting, respectively. They found that repinning is a “first class activity” (p. 6) and
compared it to retweeting on Twitter and reblogging on Tumblr. Liking and commenting on pins
happen with less frequency. The number of likes and comments on a pin are the best predictor of
that pin’s likelihood to get repinned. Bakhshi et al. conducted this study by generating a random
sample of 989,000 pinners and 2.9 million pins. They also found that the average pinner had
more than 1,000 pins and 86 followers, and 80% of the pinners they collected identified as
female.
Section II: Examing Behavior through Activities, Language and Gender
Activities, language, and gender are major factors when analyzing the behavior and
culture of a social media platform. Forte, Hall, and Zarro (2013) and Hall and Zarro (2013) both
studied the activities of Pinterest users, and Bakhshi et al. (2013) conducted an in-depth
examination of language used on Pinterest compared to Twitter. Hall and Zarro also reviewed
comments, a less common activity, to find that Pinterest promotes a positive community of
discussion. Finally, Bakhshi et al. conducted the most in-depth research about gender and
Pinterest.
Activities. Forte et al. (2013) found that “Pinterest serves as an infrastructure for
repository building that supports a wide range of activities including: discovery, collecting,
collaborating, and publishing” (p. 650). Through nine in-depth interviews with personal and
professional Pinterest users, Forte et al. found that they often use the social media site as a
storeroom or warehouse for ideas and activities. They identified four activities – collecting,
discovering, collaborating, and publishing – as Pinterest users’ main behaviors.
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Collecting is defined as “assembling and curating collections on pinboards” (p. 653). This
activity is a driving force for Pinterest usage, as Lee and Mull had previously identified
“organization” as a unique motivation for using the site and Bahkshi et al. found that repinning
was by far the most popular activity. Both of these previous findings support Forte et al.’s
discussion of collecting or curating as a main function.
Discovering is the second most popular activity, with some users suggesting that
Pinterest replaces a Google search in certain situations, with one user saying, “[Pinterest] just
kind of finds it for you and then compiles it together” (Forte et al., 2013, p. 653). The study
found that collaborating was a less common activity, but suggests that users share ideas via text,
email, and the in-app sharing feature, facilitating both online and offline communication between
users and nonusers. Publishing demonstrated a theme of social validation, as both personal and
professional pinners suggested that “they wanted to be viewed by their contacts as having
authority, good taste, or style” and that it was “an important driver of use” for those who
mentioned it (Forte et al., 2013, p. 654).
Hall and Zarro (2013) discovered that the pins were mostly about food and drink, home
décor and design, and apparel and accessories, and that the pins most often (45% of the time)
originated from blogs. Other sources included ecommerce (9.8%), user-uploaded (8.8%), search
engines (8.8%), social curation (7.9%), and image and video hosting (4%). Hall and Zarro also
confirmed Bahkski et al.’s findings that repinning an image was the most common activity a user
does on Pinterest, and was six times more likely to happen than the second-most frequently used
activity, liking a pin (2013).
Hall and Zarro (2013) did this by conducting a quantitative study that attempted to
answer what Pinterest users were doing on the site, as well as how they interacted with each
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other and with the pins. Their secondary focus was comments on pins, an activity less often used
by pinners, but perhaps a better tool for understanding the culture of Pinterest. The researchers
collected a random sample of 291,125 pins from the “popular” feed between February 15 and
March 15, 2012. From this sample, they randomly selected a subset of 1,000 pins, of which they
analyzed the pins’ subject and source.
Language. Several studies analyzed the language of Pinterest, another important factor in
the culture of a social media platform, by comparing text on pins to tweets on Twitter and
identifying categories of dialogue. The Bahkshi study found that Twitter users employed the
time-sensitive words “lol, watching, now, today, tonight,” while Pinterest’s language – “use,
look, want and need” – spoke to the users’ consumer mentality (Bakhshi et al., 2013, p. 8). The
researchers did this by identifying 2,600 pinners who linked their Twitter accounts to their
Pinterest pages, gaining a data set of text from 217,000 pins and 737,000 tweets.
They used this comparable text to identify any differences in conversations and language
the users employed on the two social media platforms. Twitter’s language was related more
closely to time, whereas Pinterest’s language was more related to things and actions. This
reflected the immediacy with which users on Twitter tend to share their thoughts, prompted by
Twitter’s “what’s happening?” tagline, and the consumer mentality of Pinterest users.
Hall and Zarro investigated users’ comments on pins, and found that more than half of
the comments on Pinterest were sharing opinions (55%). Other categories of comments included
dialogue (19%), personal history (15%), and narrative detail (10%). The opinions were
overwhelmingly positive. When users did have something negative to say, it was often in an
apologetic or explanatory tone. Hall and Zarro concluded that Pinterest cultivated a largely
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positive community. On other social media platforms, such as Twitter or Reddit, it seems at
times that disagreement is the foundation of conversation.
Other categories included dialogue, in which users specifically questioned a user’s
relationship or experience with an image, or reaching out to family and friends to bring them into
the conversation. Users often commented on their emotional connection to a pin via their
personal history. Finally, users provided testimony or advice about the pin through narrative
details. Hall and Zarro conducted this research by analyzing 510 user comments from pins,
randomly chosen from the larger 1,000-pin sample they analyzed previously. While commenting
on pins is a less common activity among Pinterest users, they felt that it was “perhaps the most
illuminating” (p. 7). They coded the 510 comments using the categories of motivations
previously determined by Van Hooland, Rodriguez, and Boydens (2011).
Hall and Zarro explored why dialogue was much more active in Pinterest than on other
social media sites, and provided five possible explanations. First, they conjecture, Pinterest
provides users the opportunity to realize a physical need for something, which motivates them
into discussion. Second, the comments are very visible below the pin, and the community will
often come across comments more readily than in other social media sites. Third, users have the
ability to tag each other, specifically family and friends they believe would be interested in the
pin, encouraging dialogue. Fourth, users often see the original pinner as a source of authority or
credibility, and use this opportunity to ask questions. Finally, Hall and Zarro note that there is no
set structure or standard for describing or commenting on pins, so people can do it however they
want, which encourages dialogue.
Hall and Zarro deduced that pinners might also use Pinterest as a form of social reward or
social validation, based on the number of repins and likes a user’s pin may receive from others.
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When a user receives numerous likes or repins from a pin she added, this can act as a social
reward, motivating the user to continue pinning, because other users demonstrated their public
approval of that user’s taste. Forte et al. (2013) had found a similar result from their interviews,
which they defined “publishing,” with users saying that they liked being viewed as having
“authority, good taste, or style” (p. 650).
Similarly, a user may choose to repin one image over another based on the number of
repins or likes it received, because that image has been validated by others. Hall and Zarro
demonstrate this behavior by proposing two potential thought patterns, in a theoretical example
of hundreds of people having repinned a particular pin. The creator of that content thinks, “I
must be cool,” a form of social reward. Those deciding whether or not to repin this image think,
“It must be good,” a form of social validation (2013, p. 2).
Gender. One cannot analyze Pinterest without mentioning the very large gender disparity
in its user base. Forty-two percent of online women use Pinterest, compared to just 13% of
online men, and women make up 80% of the user population on Pinterest (Bakhshi et al., 2013).
Studies have attempted to explain why women more than men are attracted to Pinterest, yet no
one has yet come to a satisfactory answer. For example, Sago attempted to understand the gender
gap through two potential explanations. The first explanation suggests that Pinterest has higher
levels of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness for women than for men. The second
suggests that the difference in adoption rates might be due to Pinterest being an image-heavy
site, with women being more drawn to visual communication than men.
Bakhshi et al. (2013) analyzed gender as a factor in activity on Pinterest, and determined
that a female user’s pins are more frequently repinned then a male user’s, and gender is the “third
more powerful predictor” (p. 7) of the number of repins an image will receive, following the
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number of likes and the number of comments on that pin. The researchers proposed that the
theory of assortivity could be a reason for this gender predictor. Assortivity assumes that people
are attracted to people similar to them (Bakhshi et al., 2013, p. 7). There are fewer male users on
Pinterest, and thus the things that men like are less attractive to the larger, mostly female,
population.
However, the average male user has more followers than the average female user. The
researchers posed several possible explanations for this finding, saying that more men could have
been among the earlier adopters of Pinterest, making those early male users receive a
disproportionate number of followers. Alternatively, a scarcity might be at play (Cialdini, 2007).
This explanation would suggest that being male means having more followers simply because
there are fewer of them. The researchers realized their data was inconclusive, and suggested
further study.
Section III: Uses and Gratifications Theoretical Framework
The majority of the studies conducted about Pinterest focused on uses and gratifications
theory to understand why users choose to adopt Pinterest. Early research utilized the theory to
find the motivations that drives people to Pinterest, as part of a first-level understanding of the
new social media platform.
The uses and gratifications theory attempts to explain why a user chooses a specific
media platform. Sociologist and communication researcher Elihu Katz suggested it in 1959, and
developed the theoretical foundation describing why users choosing different types of media to
satisfy their particular needs. His purpose was “to treat audience requirements as intervening
variables in the study of traditional communication effects” (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1974,
p. 518). Previous communication theories had focused on the effects of mass media on their
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audiences. Katz focused instead on what motivates people to consume a particular medium. His
intent was to identify what media users were consuming, why they were consuming it, and adjust
the media to meet the consumer’s needs. The following is Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch’s 1974
definition of the theory:
“[Uses and gratifications theory] is concerned with “(1) the social and psychological
origins of (2) needs, which generate (3) expectations from (4) the mass media or other
sources, which lead to (5) differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other
activities), resulting in (6) need gratifications and (7) other consequences, perhaps mostly
unintended ones.” (Katz et al., 1974, p. 510)
McQuail (1983) built upon Katz et al.’s work and identified four general needs that
people seek to gratify through various mass media: entertainment, information, personal identity,
and integration and social interaction. Alan Rubin expanded upon those needs by identifying
eight general reasons for choosing a medium: passing time, companionship, escape, enjoyment,
social interaction, relaxation, information and excitement (Griffin, 2012). However, with the
changing technology methods, researchers realized the theory needed to grow with new media.
Future studies of new media built upon McQuail and Rubin’s typology of gratifications,
modifying them slightly as technology changed.
Sundar and Limperos (2013) examined uses and gratifications, the foundation of which
was laid out before the advent of the Internet, in the context of 21st century technology. They
identified two antiquated pieces of the theory – the measurements and the categories of
gratifications – that were “missing the nuanced gratifications obtained from newer media” (p.
504). Sundar and Limperos determined four variables missing from prior uses and gratifications
literature that were needed when discussing digital media: modality, agency, interactivity, and
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navigability (MAIN). They suggest that these variables, or affordances, trigger mental shortcuts
that shape the users’ assumptions and expectations of the media they are consuming. Each
element of the MAIN model helps to interpret Pinterest in a new light.
Modality refers to the mode in which users consume media – via text, image, video, etc.
Research has shown that people process one modality very differently than others, which
changes the user’s experience with the media. Consuming content via images or video, for
example, triggers a different mental shortcut than text. The MAIN Model “argues that visual
modality is more trusted than text.” One example is if one might feel that videoconferencing is
“more real” than a telephone call because of the additional modality (p. 512). Other potential
gratifications include “coolness” and “novelty,” like with Apple products or new video games.
Users now expect this realness in their modality, and can often be disappointed when these types
of gratifications are not available on a platform.
Agency refers to the widespread change in information sources that social media
platforms have caused – that anyone can be a source of information. This is a large distinction
from previous uses and gratifications’ categories of information, which assumed that users chose
a platform in order to gather information. This model instead suggests that users may choose a
particular platform in order to share information, owning their own form of agency. Agency also
speaks to the power of bandwagon or opinions, such as reading others’ hotel reviews before
booking a room.
Interactivity is defined as “the affordance that allows the user to make real-time changes
to the content in the medium” (p. 515). Examples include a dynamic changing map, responsive
design, and interactive data. Interactivity creates a mental shortcut of openness and availability in
data and communication; however, studies have shown that too much interactivity causes user
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displeasure. The researchers found that too much interactivity “entails more effort on the part of
the user and partly because it results in a rigorous scrutiny of content” (p. 515), which, in today’s
quick-to-consume culture, often deters users from discovering the true value of data.
Navigability allows the users to experience the medium through browsing, “scaffolding,”
or gamification. This movement within the space created by the platform triggers several mental
shortcuts for users. Browsing has become an expected feature of any social media site, to the
extent that if a site is difficult to navigate, users will become frustrated and often leave the site.
Scaffolding refers to the numerous signs and warnings during a checkout process or transaction.
The play aspect of navigability embraces the dynamic games and interfaces that an audience can
use for “escapism and immersion … a continuous sense of exploration and smooth transitions”
(p. 516). Each aspect of navigability creates a unique user experience within the space.
The MAIN model offers several interesting viewpoints on newer digital media like
Pinterest. Pinterest has a mainly visual modality, supplemented by some text in the form of pins’
descriptions and comments. Based on the MAIN model, the site may then have different mental
shortcuts for users’ motivation or behavior; pinning images, for example, may have different
motivation than writing a to-do list. Pinterest offers the ability of users to both be agents of
information, as well as consumers. Examples of Pinterest’s affordance of agency are seen in
Forte et al.’s discovery of the importance of authority, Bahkshi et al.’s analysis of Pinterest
comments, and Hall and Zarro’s discussion of social validation and social reward. Hall and Zarro
also remarked on the site’s navigability, as its grid-like layout with endlessly refreshing images
is good for both browsing and discovering pins.
Using both the original categories and the new typology that Sundar and Limperos began
to identify are valuable when beginning to understand a social media platform. The uses and
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gratification theory is valuable when researching social media adoption. However, the second
step of research should go beyond why people are choosing the platform, and examine what
people are doing with it.
Section IV: Theory of Planned Behavior
Previous research on Pinterest as a social medium was based on uses and gratifications
theory; now, this research will utilize the theory of planned behavior as the framework to
investigate Pinterest as a tool of motivation and behavior change. The theory was “designed to
predict and explain human behavior in specific contexts” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 181).
The theory of planned behavior is, according to its creator Icek Ajzen, “an extension of
the theory of reasoned action,” and attempts to predict behavior by capturing a person’s intention
to do the action and the perceived control over that behavior (Ajzen, 1991, p. 181). The four key
concepts of the theory of planned behavior include behavioral intention, attitude, subjective
norm, and perceived behavior control. Ajzen (1991) suggests “intentions to perform behaviors of
different kinds can be predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the behavior,
subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control; and these intentions, together with
perceptions of behavioral control, account for considerable variance in actual behavior” (p. 179).
The theory of planned behavior was a key theoretical background for this study. Parts of
the survey are based off of Azjen’s article, “Constructing a theory of planned behavior
questionnaire” (Ajzen, 2006). This study’s concepts, described later, are based in part on the
theory’s variables of behavioral intention, attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control.
The theory helped to better understand and predictor users’ behavior, as well as help me create
survey questions that helped demonstrate the planned behavior of the respondents.
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
As a newer social media platform, Pinterest does not have a large body of research, and
most of the research has focused on why people use the platform, as opposed to what people are
doing with it. The purpose of this research is to begin to understand what happens after a user
pins an image, and if users’ behaviors are or can be influenced by their actions on Pinterest. This
research will provide the second level of knowledge about Pinterest as a social media platform,
by investigating its ability to motivate users and change behavior. This research attempts to
answer the following research questions:
RQ 1: Do Pinterest users intend to act on the pins they curate?
RQ 2: Does Pinterest motivate users to change their behavior?
RESEARCH METHODS
Using the theory of planned behavior as the framework for this research, I conducted an
online survey that asked Pinterest users to self-report their habits and behaviors surrounding
Pinterest. The survey was created using Qualtrics online survey software and sponsored by
American University’s School of Communication. The full survey is available in Appendix A.
Section I: Sampling Method
Participants for this study were acquired via a convenience sampling method. I partnered
with professors from the School of Communication to enlist the help of students in their
respective classes. I also utilized academic and community listservs, Facebook groups, and
personal connections, using the recruitment language (see Appendix B) to ask participants to
take the ten-minute survey. The largest segment of the sample population of survey respondents
was composed of American University undergraduate and graduate students.
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I chose the convenience method of collecting data because of its low cost and quick
timeline. I did not have access to a formal list of populations, which would have been necessary
for a random sample. It is also very difficult to find Pinterest users, unless I was to randomly
sample many thousands of people. The disadvantages were outweighed by the low-cost and
potential for a high volume of responses, two advantages of the convenience method. The
convenience method, while less generalizable and thus providing less external validity, was the
only reasonable way to conduct this survey.
Section II: Sample
I collected 455 responses via the online survey between March 1 and April 13, 2015.
Respondents were asked whether they had a Pinterest account on the first page of the survey; if
yes, they continued to the rest of the survey questions. If respondents answered that they did not
have a Pinterest account, they were thanked for their time and the survey was closed. Of the 455
people who took the survey, 345 had a Pinterest account. Results from these 345 respondents,
75.8% of the reached population, are included and analyzed in this study.
Participants’ ages ranged from 19 to 64. The median age of the respondents was 26; the
mean age was 28.69. Unsurprisingly, 90.4% of the respondents identified as female, and 9.6% as
male. Respondents’ self-identified gender reflected similar proportions of reported demographics
of the larger population of Pinterest users.
More than half of the respondents identified as heavy Pinterest users; 52.6% reported to
using Pinterest at least once a week, 19.9% reported using Pinterest daily, 32.7% used the site
once a week, 18.7% used it once a month, 13.5% used it less than once a month, and 15.2% used
it “almost never.” Sixty percent of the respondents said they had five or more boards, which was
similar to previous research conducted by Duggan et al.
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Section III: Procedures
Upon clicking on the survey link, participants read a brief letter describing the purpose of
the survey and the document of informed consent. Participants were told that the survey took
most people approximately ten minutes to complete, that there were no potential risks or benefits
to taking the survey, and that the survey was completely voluntary. After reading the document,
participants chose to continue the survey by clicking “next” at the bottom of the page, which
implied their informed consent for survey research.
Respondents were asked their age, gender, and whether they had a Pinterest account at
the start of the survey. Only those who replied “yes” to having a Pinterest account were allowed
to continue the survey.
Section IV: Survey
The online survey consisted of six parts with a total of 36 multiple-choice questions and
six optional open-ended questions. First, respondents were asked the demographic questions, as
well as the determining question regarding the Pinterest account. Second, respondents answered
nine basic questions about their standard Pinterest habits (See Table 1 and Table 2), to confirm
findings by previous research. The third section told respondents to think of their three most
recent pins, and asked seven questions regarding their thoughts and intentions about those
specific pins. This section aimed to understand behavior and intention of Pinterest users in a
more concrete way, and attempted to improve measurement reliability by asking users to focus
on specific and recent examples.
The fourth section had thirteen questions that attempted to measure motivation and
behavior change. Respondents were asked to rate a sentence on a five-point Likert scale that
measured their opinion of Pinterest as a motivating tool. This section also instructed respondents
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to determine whether or not they intended to do something based on a pin, whether they followed
through with their intentions, and with what frequency. The fifth section included four questions
that asked respondents about their interactions with organizations on Pinterest, with the intention
of understanding if Pinterest can help organizations mobilize users to join their missions.
The final section was six open-ended questions. After completing the first five sections,
respondents read the following statement:
“Thank you for your participation in this survey. I appreciate your responses! The next
set of six optional questions are open-ended, and are posed with the intention of allowing
you to express any further thoughts you have on Pinterest. If you would like to continue
with the survey, please select “Yes.” If you would like to finish the survey here, please
select “No.”
This section allowed interested users to elaborate on their opinions about Pinterest as a tool for
motivation and behavior change. Of the 345 respondents who had Pinterest accounts, 51 (14.8%)
chose to provide open-ended qualitative responses. This data helped my understanding of the
topic and added depth that I discuss in the discussion section. For a full list of survey questions,
please see Appendix A.
RESULTS
Section I: Key Concepts
This research questions were:
RQ 1: Do Pinterest users intend to act on the pins they curate?
RQ 2: Does Pinterest motivate users to change their behavior?
To address research question 1, I looked more closely at to what extent respondents felt
that the pin would influence their behavior outside of the social media platform. To address
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
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research question 2, I examined how users perceived their Pinterest as affecting their behavior.
The survey measured five concepts: 1) intention to act, 2) memory repository, 3) planned
behavior, 4) perceived behavior change, and 5) the emotional connection with Pinterest. Each
concept was measured with multiple questions, which created indices to enhance each concept’s
reliability and validity. This study will use these concepts in order to answer the research
questions.
Intention to Act. While previous studies, such as Lee and Mull’s uses and gratifications
research, looked to understand the motivations of coming to Pinterest, this research attempted to
understand respondents’ specific motivations to act by asking them to rate scenarios on a Likert
Scale. This study defines the concept of “intention to act” as a conscious thought process while
using Pinterest to use the pins at some point in the future.
Respondents generally state that they pin things with the expectation that they will do
those tasks in the future. When asked if they use Pinterest to look for “inspiration for something I
will be doing soon,” 86.7% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed, and 85.6% agree or
strongly agree that they use Pinterest to find “something I might be doing later.” This can be
compared to only 35.4% who agree or strongly agree to using Pinterest for something “that I
don’t anticipate doing in the future.”
The survey also asked respondents to think of their three most recent pins, and identify
those pins as a project, an event, a picture, a skill, a new idea, or a product. Table 3 demonstrates
the breakdown of these categories, with projects, skills, and products being the most popular.
More than half of respondents said that they intended to do one of their three most recent
pins in the next month to six months. Sixty-two percent of respondents said that they intended to
use the “skill or action” pin within the next month; 56% said they intended to do the project
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
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within the next month. Table 4 describes what types of things respondents have pinned, and their
anticipation of when they will act on those pins.
The majority of respondents reported using Pinterest with the intention of acting on their
pins in an anticipated timeframe. When asked how often they repinned something on Pinterest
with the intention of acting on it, 26.7% of respondents said at least once a week; 40.6% said at
least once a month. Only 14.6% of people said that they “hardly ever” repinned things that they
do not intend to do.
Generally, respondents “often” (31.9%) or “sometimes” (44.8%) followed through with
their intentions. The survey asked respondents, when they repinned something with the intention
of using it, how often they followed through with their intention. Respondents demonstrated a
lower rate of follow-through, with only 2.9% of respondents reporting that they followed through
“all the time,” 31.9% said “often,” and 44.8% said “sometimes.” This may suggest that
sometimes pinning is kind of a “wish list” for users.
Memory Repository. This survey also reported on Pinterest’s capacity to act as an
expanded memory bank for respondents. This study defines the concept of “memory repository”
as the conscious or unconscious decision that respondents make to use the site as a storeroom or
warehouse of ideas.
Generally, respondents agreed to Pinterest functioning as a memory bank or idea
warehouse, yet there seems to be some discord in the ability of users to admit that using Pinterest
in this capacity affects their behavior. When asked to evaluate the statement, “Pinterest can help
me remember things by pinning them to review or act on later,” 77.9% of respondents agreed or
strongly agreed. Eighty-one percent said that they believed Pinterest is helpful in remembering
things that they would like to do in the future. Interestingly, only 53.6% agreed or strongly
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agreed to the statement, “Pinterest impacts my ability to remember or act on things I repin or
like.” Respondents were more likely to deny that Pinterest affects their behavior, even after
agreeing that it is helpful.
Planned Behavior. The theory of planned behavior explains the elements needed to
understand a person’s intention to change or adopt a behavior: behavioral beliefs and
acknowledgement of outcomes; belief of normative behavior and subjective norm; the perceived
behavior control; and demonstration of previous behavior. This study defines the concept of
“planned behavior” as the sequence of conscious actions that respondents had when using
Pinterest to create a plan for future behavior change based on their activities (repinning, liking
and commenting) on the site.
The questions about memory repository demonstrate the respondents’ acknowledgement
of the behavior – pinning on Pinterest – as helpful in changing or adopting behaviors. However,
respondents are uncertain of the normative behavior. In response to the statement, “I believe
most Pinterest users will often act on things they repin,” only 1.7% strongly agreed, 18.7%
agreed, 33.9% were neutral, 38.1% disagreed, and 7.6% strongly disagreed. This demonstrates
that this demographic is not under the impression that acting on pins is a normative behavior.
Despite this, the respondents’ subjective norms were opposite of the normative beliefs.
Most respondents (53.8%) do agree that acting on the things they repin would affect their
lifestyles, and the vast majority (70.3%) says that in the past, they have acted on things that they
have pinned on Pinterest. These results can be compared to 53.6% of respondents who agreed
that Pinterest impacts their ability to remember and act on their repins.
The third-person effect could be the reason for this difference in normative beliefs and
subjective, as well as the disparity in the concept of memory repository. This theory suggests that
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people believe that mass communication has a larger effect on the “other,” while they believe
themselves to be less or unaffected. Davison (1983) articulated the theory, predicting “people
will tend to overestimate the influence that mass communications have on the attitudes and
behavior of others” (p. 1). In this case, third-person effect would suggest that Pinterest users
believe that they (the individual) are positively affected by Pinterest to help them remember or
act on things, while believing that the other users are not affected in this way.
Perceived Behavior Change. Parts of the survey asked respondents to evaluate the effect
of Pinterest on their behavior. This research is limited to the reported actions and changes in
behavior by respondents themselves, and cannot be verified beyond self-reported data. This
study defines the concept of “perceived behavior change” as the reported change in behavior that
respondents see in their thoughts or actions and attribute to their Pinterest habits.
Generally, respondents agreed that Pinterest inspires them, and approximately half
believe Pinterest motivates them to change their behavior. Eight-five percent of respondents
agreed or strongly agreed that Pinterest made them think of something they would like to do in
the future. Slightly less than half (47.3%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Pinterest
motivates them to do something new or change their behavior. 30.4% of respondents agreed or
strongly agreed with the statement, “I have changed my behavior based on the pins that I saw on
Pinterest.”
Despite 70.3% of respondents saying that they have acted on a pin in the past, only 26%
percent of respondents thought that Pinterest influenced their behavior or thinking; 32.3% were
neutral or uncertain, and 41.2% thought that Pinterest did not influence their behavior of
thinking. Again, there could be a third-person effect, as respondents agree that Pinterest could
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affect their own behavior, but do not believe that Pinterest has an effect on others, influencing
their answers to comply with their perception of the majority’s behavior.
Emotional Connection with Pinterest. Most respondents associated Pinterest with
positive words – motivated, inspired, creative, excited and unique – and do not associate it with
negative words. This research revealed respondents’ emotional connections with Pinterest by
asking respondents to rate ten emotional words on a Likert Scale. This study defines the concept
of “emotional connection” as the perception of respondents’ feelings, both positive and negative,
towards Pinterest. Respondents were given the prompt, “After using Pinterest, I feel (blank),”
followed by a list of five positive and five negative words. Respondents were asked to strongly
agree to strongly disagree with the statement. See Table 5 for the full list of results.
Section II: Other Factors
This survey measured other variables that had interesting findings, but were only
tangentially related to the research questions. These concepts included the value of social
connection and social reward to respondents, respondents’ perception of organizations, and the
frequency of use of Pinterest users.
Social Connection and Social Reward. This research used the definitions of social
connection and social reward as described by Forte et al. (2013). Social reward refers to the “I
must be cool” thought process that Pinterest users undergo when their pins are liked or repinned
by others. Social connection refers to the incentive a user feels to connect to and share things
with friends or strangers through Pinterest.
Respondents reported low levels of importance of social connection to their social media
experience. Six percent of respondents said that connecting with friends was important to their
Pinterest experience, and only 3.6% said that connecting with people in general was important.
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
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Social reward was slightly more important to respondents, with 7.4% reporting that having their
pins repinned by friends was important, and 7.3% for repins from strangers.
Thoughts on Organizations. Most respondents are not interacting with organizations on
Pinterest. Respondents were asked several questions regarding their perceptions about and
interactions with organizations on Pinterest. Twenty-four percent said that they had become
more interested in a company or organization based on pins they saw on Pinterest, and 26.6%
said they sought out more information about a company or organization thanks to Pinterest. Very
few, however, have made any efforts to connect with organizations beyond that. Only 4.3% of
respondents said that they had become involved with an organization due to Pinterest, and only
1.5% reported having volunteered for an organization based on their Pinterest experience.
However, there was a strong correlation (Pearson’s correlation coefficient = 0.81, p < .01)
between those who said they became more interested in an organization and those who sought
out more information about an organization based on Pinterest.
There was a slightly higher rate of online interactions with organizations, with 12.2% of
respondents saying that they were inspired by Pinterest to follow an organization on another
social media platform, and 12.6% saying that they have donated to an organization based on
Pinterest. But again, there was a high correlation (0.94 and significant at the 0.01 level) between
those who said that they volunteered for an organization based on Pinterest, and those who
donated to a company or organization based on Pinterest.
Section III: Relationships between Planned Behavior and Related Concepts
I conducted reliability analyses to measure the reliability of the questions for each of the
identified concepts. See Table 6 for a list of all questions that were included in each concept, and
the concept’s reliability based on Cronbach’s Alpha. All of the measured concepts achieved a
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reliability score of close to or more than 0.70, which demonstrates internal consistency between
the variables that measured the concept. The concepts of planned behavior and perceived
behavior changes, which are the most relevant to this study’s research questions, had reliability
scores of 0.83 and 0.70 respectively. Social reward and perceptions on organizations received the
highest reliability scores, at 0.92 and 0.85. Use of Pinterest as a memory bank also scored high,
at 0.82. Cronbach’s Alpha reflects the consistency of the respondents’ answers on all the
variables that measure the individual concept.
After the reliability of the concepts was determined to be sufficient, I used SPSS’s
bivariate correlation functions (Pearson’s Correlation) in an attempt to demonstrate relationships
between the concepts. See Table 7 for data resulting from the bivariate correlations.
The concepts of planned behavior and perceived behavior change were highly correlated,
with a Pearson’s Correlation of 0.86, and significant at the 0.01 level. Other concepts had lower
correlations, but were still significant at the 0.01 level: the concepts of planned behavior and the
use of Pinterest as a memory repository were correlated at 0.59; planned behavior and a positive
emotional connection with Pinterest at 0.57; and social reward and social connection at 0.57.
This study also saw statistically significant differences between heavy users (defined as
using Pinterest once a month or more) and light users (defined as using Pinterest less than once a
month) for the following concepts: social reward, social connection, perceived behavior change,
planned behavior, and emotional connection to Pinterest. See Table 8. Respondents who
identified as heavy users were more likely to agree that these concepts were important to them.
The largest difference in these two groups occurred in the concept of perceived behavior
change. Heavy users were more likely to report a change in their behavior (M=2.50, SD=.65)
than light users (M=2.94, SD=.83). These means were based off five-point Likert Scale, with one
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
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equating to “strongly agree” and five equating to “strongly disagree.” Thus the lower mean
demonstrates a higher degree of agreement.
Light users were more likely to have a negative association with Pinterest (M=3.89,
SD=.95) than heavy users (M=4.28, SD=.69). This concept was the only one of those reviewed
in which the light users were most likely to agree than the heavy users.
Section IV: Qualitative Data
Of the 345 respondents who took the survey, 63 (22.7%) chose to respond to the six
optional open-ended questions that allowed them to elaborate on their thoughts about Pinterest.
A total of 229 separate thoughts were coded into 50 categories. Several major themes recurred in
the respondents’ comments: Pinterest as an “idea warehouse,” the site as an organizational tool,
its visual appeal, the sense of a positive community, the respondents’ views on accountability,
the feeling of clutter from never-ending ideas, and the users’ potential to become overwhelmed.
The concept of Pinterest as a database or memory bank for ideas was very popular among
respondents. One 27-year-old female user said, “For me, Pinterest is akin to a visual file cabinet
that I am able to easily share (or not) with friends and family.” A 40-year-old female user
mentioned, “Pinterest allows me to organize the ideas I find for easy access and use. When I am
ready to move on the projects and goals, I won't have to go looking for all the information; I can
just get started. Sometimes we are not ready to use the information when we find it and Pinterest
gives a place to hold it until you are ready.”
Most respondents demonstrated their use of Pinterest as an organizational tool, as
opposed to a motivational tool. A 27-year-old male user said, “I don't find it motivational, per se.
Helpful, yes. But I am almost always motivated by something external to the application.” This
external motivation was another common theme, as many respondents reported using Pinterest
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for specific events or purposes, such as wedding, baby showers, or dinner parties. A 25-year-old
female who uses Pinterest daily said, “A hard deadline is always the motivation, such as a dinner
party to use a recipe, or holiday craft.”
Several people remarked on Pinterest’s visual appeal as a motivating factor. A 28-yearold female who uses Pinterest daily said, “It's visual, and I like seeing how someone else did
something so I can create my own twist on it when I do the project.” A 33-year-old female said,
“The image communicates an idea that is new or unique in my view and would be nice to share
with others.” Another mentioned the importance of instruction when turning intention into
action. This 33-year-old female said that she is more motivated to complete a project “if it looks
manageable or shows clear steps for something that I was already thinking about, but wasn't
necessarily sure on how to do.”
Other respondents mentioned the sense of community from Pinterest, which was
unanticipated. One 24-year-old female said, “In completing a project, I could then post an image
of my completed work to Pinterest, in order to show it off and possibly inspire others.” This
statement reflects the social reward mentality that Hall and Zarro referenced. A 23-year-old
female said, “The simplicity of the interface it seems like one could easily participate in the
conversation.” A 27-year-old female who reports using Pinterest once a month said, “Seeing
these images motivates me greatly to join in and accomplish something.” The choice of words –
join in – demonstrates that this feeling of social connection is an unintentional benefit of
Pinterest. Another 29-year-old female who said she uses Pinterest rarely said, “I use Pinterest for
work, so use it to post articles and ideas that are useful in our field of work (entrepreneurship). I
have used Pinterest to share ideas.”
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Other respondents had unanticipated motivations or benefits from using Pinterest. A 24year-old female said that Pinterest has helped her try new things: “I’m a big fan of it because it
has really caused me to go outside of the boundaries of how I usually feed myself. I am more
comfortable trying new things and enjoy the engagement of searching for something new and
exciting to try.” A 25-year-old male mentions that he uses Pinterest in an academic setting to
share ideas with his cohort by “using the platform as a way to collect images, and create a ‘look
book’ for our projects. The platform allows us to share images with the entire crew to collaborate
on lighting schemes, production designs, casting ideas, etc.” One 23-year-old female reported
that she has begun to eat healthier and exercise more because of Pinterest: “I fill those boards
with quotes, easy recipes, and quick workouts and I try to look at it everyday and pin something
new and inspirational. I've lost 30 pounds so far!”
Accountability was one of the flaws of Pinterest, with many respondents remarking on
the ease of losing focus on their goals. One 27-year-old female said, “I do believe that many
people use Pinterest not to ‘do’ but to simulate ‘doing.’” She mentions that repinning something
could be a substitute for “actually doing” whatever they repinned. The digital action of repining
may gratify the needs or motivations of users without encouraging its physical manifestation of
the desired behavior. One 23-year-old female had an unusual outlook on accountability, in which
she describes feeling accountable by repinning things for the entire Internet to see. She said, “It
does keep you accountable. There are a lot of great ideas for trying new things, expanding
interests and hobbies and making improvements in your life.”
Another flaw was becoming too cluttered with repins and ideas. One 27-year-old male
user said, “It's too easy to use and scroll through ideas. It’s also too visual and distracting. I could
see some folks simply looking at all the ideas and options and never really getting started, getting
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addicted to the allure of the ideal, but not the application of it.” A 23-year-old female said, “A
disadvantage comes from the idea of pinning too much, and cluttering your true motivation with
other, less motivational things.”
Finally, many respondents felt overwhelmed with information and disheartened with their
own skills. One 27-year-old female said, “It can get overwhelming and even a little saddening to
see such high-quality posts, and not having quite the skill level to achieve the same kind of
thing.” A 33-year-old female said, “Pinterest can be a bit overwhelming if you don't use it with a
specific purpose / project in mind. I am more likely to use Pinterest as a place to save ideas from
elsewhere online than to actually search because it is easy to get distracted by tangential things.”
Another 33-year-old female said, “At a certain point, there's just way more stuff collected than I
could ever possibly do. I could see how that could become overwhelming or demotivating for
some people.”
These themes – Pinterest as an “idea warehouse,” an organizational tool, its visual appeal,
the sense of community, the views on accountability, the clutter of never-ending ideas, and the
potential to become overwhelmed – reflect many of the results found in the quantitative data.
The open-ended responses allowed for a deeper understanding of the survey’s findings.
DISCUSSION
Section I: Interpretation of Findings
The purpose of this research was to answer the two research questions:
RQ 1: Do Pinterest users intend to act on the pins they curate?
RQ 2: Does Pinterest motivate users to change their behavior?
Based on the results of the quantitative data and qualitative responses from the survey of
345 Pinterest users, this study suggests that the majority of respondents do use Pinterest with the
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intention of acting on most pins they curate at some point in the future. Behavior change,
however, was more difficult to measure and also less commonly reported by respondents.
The concept of intention to act – which this study defined as a conscious thought process
while using Pinterest to use the pins at some point in the future – demonstrated that the majority
of respondents did consciously intend to use their pins in the future. The majority of respondents
reported using Pinterest when they are “looking for inspiration for something I will be doing
soon,” or “something I might be doing later.” Few respondents reported using Pinterest “just for
fun,” without any type of motivation for the future. Many respondents saw themselves using
their three most recent pins in the near future, especially those who had just pinned about
projects or skills. An average of 38.8% of respondents anticipated using their most recent pins in
the next month; 32.4% saw themselves using it within the next six months.
The concept of planned behavior – which this study defined as the sequence of conscious
actions that respondents had when using Pinterest to create a plan for future behavior change
based on their activities on the site – had a highly reliable index (0.83). The components of this
concept, modeled after the theory of planned behavior, included the behavioral intention, attitude
towards the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Respondents were
uncertain of the normative behavior – most believed that other Pinterest users did not act on their
pins. Despite this, the majority of respondents reported a difference in their subjective norms,
agreeing that they do use Pinterest with intentions to act on their pins, that this behavior can
affect their lifestyle, and that they had done this behavior in the past. This response would
suggest that respondents would admit to Pinterest having impacted their lifestyle or changed
their behavior in some way.
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However, the concept of perceived behavior change – defined as the reported change in
behavior that users see in their thoughts or actions and attribute to their Pinterest habits – was
much lower than anticipated. Most respondents did not believe that Pinterest changed their
behavior, despite the fact that many of these users reported having done something they found on
Pinterest in the past. The correlation between the two concepts of planned behavior and
perceived behavior change was very high (0.86). This suggests that the respondents who
demonstrated the components of planned behavior reported higher levels of perceived behavioral
change.
The concept of perceived behavior change could be underreported in this study, based on
a few limitations. First, perceived behavior change was self-reported, and it was impossible to
confirm or clarify a respondent’s interpretation of “behavior change.” Second, many people
would rather believe that their behavior change was not due to outside forces, but instead came
from their own motivation. If this were the case, respondents might have given Pinterest less
credit than perhaps it deserved in helping users transform intentions to actions.
While most respondents reported that they only “sometimes” followed through with their
intentions, the correlation between planned behavior and perceived behavior change suggests
that Pinterest does have the ability to motivate users to change their behavior. Therefore,
Pinterest does have the potential for behavior change, but users are not fully utilizing its ability
to transform planned behavior into behavior change.
Based on the results of this research, one could assume that most Pinterest users use the
site as a memory bank or database for ideas, as 3 out of 4 respondents said that Pinterest helped
them remember ideas to act on in the future, and 47.1% of those who answered the open-ended
questions discussed Pinterest as an “idea warehouse” in some form. Some users also suggested
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
38
that they use Pinterest instead of Google in some cases, as Forte et al. (2013) also described. One
23-year-old female respondent said, “Pinterest works really well as a search engine... I find
myself using Pinterest to look up various [knitting] patterns instead of Google.” Another 23year-old female respondent said that she enjoyed “being able to refer back to things you've
pinned so easily (vs. having to Google things and find them again) makes it much easier.” In the
survey, 72.6% of users agreeing or strongly agreeing that they use Pinterest’s search bar to find
relevant images, and several open-ended responses commented that they use Pinterest as a search
engine for specific purposes.
This study reconfirmed the findings from previous research for reasons why users choose
to use Pinterest – food and drink, home décor, and DIY crafts came up very frequently in both
the quantitative survey data and the qualitative open-ended responses. Most users had a positive
association with Pinterest, despite two words that fell outside the normal distributions: “unique”
and “overwhelming.” These words were also found frequently in the open-ended response with
users mentioning their search for unique ideas and becoming overwhelmed with possibilities.
Finally, this study touched on some other factors that were unrelated to the research
questions at hand, but still contribute to the body of literature surrounding Pinterest. The concept
of social connection was not important to users’ Pinterest experience. However, those who
mentioned social connection in their open-ended responses spoke of the importance of social
connection in terms of connecting with people and ideas from across the world. Additionally,
heavy Pinterest users were more likely to report that social connection and social reward were
more important to them than light users.
Other users commented on social validation, the concept introduced by Hall and Zarro
that says users are encouraged to repin things that are highly liked or repinned by others. One
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
39
user said that she was more likely to do a pin “if it has a lot of repins or likes, if others have
commented saying they've tried it.” Fewer users mentioned the importance of social reward in
the comments, but the survey data reported the importance of “winning” repins or likes on their
pins, with 7.4% reporting that getting repins from friends or stranger was important.
Today, organizations and nonprofits do not invest a lot of time or money into Pinterest as
part of their social media strategy, because the site is so new and best practices have not been
fully developed or proven. While users are not interacting with organizations very frequently on
Pinterest, there are some strong correlations that would become valuable in the future when
companies and nonprofits are able to make Pinterest a successful part of their social media
strategy.
Users’ online interactions with organizations are limited now, but there is a strong
correlation between those who became more interested in an organization and those who sought
out more information about an organization based on Pinterest. Businesses can use Pinterest as a
tool to bring people to their websites and content, and eventually bring them to action. This study
found another strong correlation between those who said that they volunteered for an
organization based on Pinterest, and those who donated to a company or organization based on
Pinterest. These demonstrative correlations are proof of concept in a limited capacity, but have
the potential to further organizations’ use of Pinterest in the future, as well as evidence that
Pinterest can affect users’ subsequent actions and behavior.
Section II: Study Limitations
A key limitation to this study is sample recruited for this study. Since the sample
population was recruited through a non-random convenience sampling method, the results of this
survey have less external validity. The sample, which consists mostly of college undergraduate
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
40
and graduate students, with a median age of 26 and overwhelmingly female, makes it difficult to
extrapolate the results to a broader population. This limitation could be addressed in future
studies by gathering a list of a sample population and randomly selected participants in a study,
which I did not have access to at this time.
A second limitation is the users’ self-reported Pinterest habits. This research relies
heavily on the honesty and understanding of the respondents. In the case of perceived behavior
change, for example, this limitation could have caused users to misunderstand or underreport the
concept. People may believe that their behavior change was not due outside forces, but instead
came from their own motivation; this would cause respondents to give Pinterest less credence
than perhaps it deserved it in helping users transform intentions to actions. This limitation could
be addressed in future studies by conducted experiments on Pinterest users, or conducting two
pre- and post-surveys to ask users to be more aware of their behavior change in the in-between
time period.
Thirdly, this study was unable to make a significant impact on how men and women use
Pinterest differently, due to the small male sample size. Finally, this study is limited to the
variables that were measured and the questions that were asked. As Pinterest becomes a betterresearched topic, future researchers will have a greater understanding of Pinterest usage, habits,
and norms. This study will provide a basis upon which future researchers will improve, and will
contribute to the larger body of research.
Section III: Future Directions for Research
Expanded Sample Size. Future research can expand upon this foundation by exploring a
larger pool of Pinterest users. This study has narrow external validity, due to the limited
resources available to me. Future research would be advised to investigate the possibility of
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
41
gaining a list of Pinterest users, perhaps from Pinterest, in order to have a more complete and
random sample. This would enable future research to be extrapolated more broadly.
Link Between Planned Behavior and Perceived Behavior Change. Future studies
should further investigate the perceived link between planned behavior and behavior change
through experiments with Pinterest users and non-Pinterest users. The concept of “perceived
behavior change” in this study limits the reliability of the results, as it requires the respondents to
self-report their change in behavior. An experiment, with control groups of Pinterest users and
non-Pinterest users, might allow future researchers to better define the effect of Pinterest on
users’ behavior change, by removing the self-reporting bias.
Difference in Gender. This study was unable to examine if the gender of a Pinterest user
affects their behavior and interaction with the site, due to the few number of male respondents.
Future studies that are exploring a larger sample size would have more male respondents, and
thus a better chance at investigating the differences in gender.
Perceptions of Organizations. This study’s investigation about the perceptions of
organizations on Pinterest lays the groundwork for future research about Pinterest as part of an
organization’s social media strategy. This research determined that there was a correlation
between becoming interested in an organization via Pinterest and seeking out more information
about them, which demonstrates the potential for Pinterest in an organization’s social media
plan. I suggest future research further investigate users’ interactions with organizations on
Pinterest through a more specific survey or an experiment.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results of the quantitative data and qualitative responses from the survey of
345 Pinterest users, this study suggests that the majority of respondents do use Pinterest with the
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
42
intention of acting on most pins they curate at some point in the future. Many respondents use
Pinterest as a memory bank or idea warehouse for the future, and they have demonstrated their
intention to act on the things the repin. However, this research only scratched the surface of
understanding how Pinterest affects users’ outside behavior.
The strong correlation between planned behavior and perceived behavior change suggests
that Pinterest does have the ability to motivate users to change their behavior. The significant
difference between the perceived behavior change of heavy Pinterest users and that of light
Pinterest users may also demonstrate that an increased frequency of Pinterest users may results in
users’ attributing their perceived behavior change to the site. The third-person effect may affect
both heavy and light users’ perceptions of their behavior change, but this research has
demonstrated that the users’ intention to act is present.
Pinterest is a highly positive community with the capacity to help its users set and reach
their goals. Users’ intention to act, the positive emotional connection to the site, and Pinterest’s
ability to help users plan their behavior has demonstrated that this social media site has
substantial influence. Its power has yet to be harnessed, let alone understood. But this research
has contributed to the small yet growing body of literature surrounding Pinterest.
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
TABLES
Table 1. Respondents’ Favorite Pinterest Categories
Category of Pins
Food and Drink
Home Décor
DIY and Crafts
Women’s Fashion
Health and Fitness
Hair and Beauty
Weddings
Travel
Quotes
Design
Art
Animals and Pets
Gardening
Humor
Holidays and Events
Education
Photography
Tattoos
Geek
Kids and Parenting
Products
Film, Music and Books
Architecture
Outdoors
Illustrations and Posters
Men’s Fashion
Technology
Science and Nature
Sports
Cars and Motorcycles
Celebrities
History
% of Respondents
67.8
48.1
44.3
40.9
38.3
30.1
24.6
18.8
16.8
16.5
12.2
9.3
8.4
8.1
7.5
7.0
6.7
6.7
5.8
5.5
5.5
5.2
4.3
4.3
3.8
3.8
3.5
3.2
3.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
N
345
43
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
44
Table 2. Where Respondents Find Pins to Repin (n = 345)
Home Feed
Popular Feed
Everything Feed
Ideas Feed
Search Bar
Very
Frequently
33.2
11.0
13.3
5.1
41.4
Frequently
Neutral
Infrequently
32.0
24.8
14.0
10.5
29.8
15.4
22.3
27.3
27.6
9.1
7.5
15.1
17.1
17.8
6.9
Very
Infrequently
11.9
26.7
28.3
39.0
12.9
Table 3. Respondents’ Three Most Recent Pins
Type of Pin
A project (for example, a DIY craft or recipe)
A skill or action (for example, a workout regimen)
A product (for example, an article of clothing)
A new idea (for example, an inspiring quote)
An event (for example, a wedding)
A picture (for example, a beach)
% of Respondents
54.2
27.5
23.8
20.6
20.3
14.2
N
345
Table 4. Anticipation of Use of Pins, By Category
Type of Pin
A skill or action
A project
A new idea
A product
An event
Within the
Within the
next month
next 6 mos.
62.0
25.0
56.0
27.5
42.4
24.2
22.0
34.1
17.1
42.9
Within the
Probably
N=
next year
never
7.6
5.4
92
11.5
4.9
182
16.7
16.7
66
13.4
30.5
82
30.0
10.0
70
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
45
Table 5. Emotional Connections to Pinterest. (n = 345)
Creative
Inspired
Motivated
Excited
Unique
Overwhelmed
Inadequate
Sad
Depressed
Dejected
Strongly
Agree
24.9
23.9
17.2
16.0
6.0
2.1
2.1
1.4
1.1
0.7
Agree
Neutral
53.0
60.7
48.7
49.5
14.9
14.2
8.2
1.4
2.1
2.5
Disagree
16.0
7.9
24.0
26.3
39.5
23.8
15.3
12.5
14.3
12.9
3.6
4.3
6.5
4.6
27.8
27.4
34.9
35.7
35.4
35.0
Strongly
Disagree
2.5
3.2
3.6
3.6
11.7
32.4
39.5
48.9
47.1
48.9
Table 6. Reliability of Concepts Measured, Cronbach’s Alpha
Social reward
Organizations
Planned behavior
Memory repository
Perceived behavior change
Social connection
Survey Questions Included
Q15_9, Q15_10
Q32, Q33, Q34, Q35, Q38_2, Q38_3
Q29, Q30, Q31, Q36, Q37
Q25, Q26, Q27
Q30, Q36, Q41
Q15_7, Q15_8, Q38_6
Cronbach’s Alpha
0.92
0.85
0.83
0.82
0.70
0.70
Table 7. Bivariate Correlations Between Concepts Measured
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Memory repository
Planned behavior
Perceived behavior change
Social connection
Social reward
Organizations
** p < .01 level (2-tailed).
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
.59**
.55**
.32**
.21**
.30**
.87**
.35**
.22**
.34**
.27**
.19**
.30**
.57**
.39**
.21**
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
46
Table 8. Heavy Users vs. Light Users: Comparing Means of Concepts via One-Way ANOVA.
Based on a 5-Point Likert Scale in which 1 is “strongly agree” and 5 is “strongly disagree.”
Social Reward
Light Users
Heavy Users
Social Connection Light Users
Heavy Users
Perceived Behavior Light Users
Change
Heavy Users
Planned Behavior Light Users
Heavy Users
Positive Emotions Light Users
Heavy Users
Negative Emotions Light Users
Heavy Users
Mean
Std. Dev. Std. Error
4.49
.77
.07
4.19
1.03
.08
3.99
.78
.07
3.58
.87
.07
2.94
.83
.07
2.50
.65
.05
2.84
.75
.07
2.45
.65
.05
2.60
.79
.07
2.23
.69
.05
3.89
.95
.09
4.28
.69
.05
Note: Significance determined by T-tests.
Sig.
.000
.000
.000
.000
.001
.002
N
134
166
135
167
125
165
125
165
119
162
119
162
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
47
Table 9. Coding Open-Ended Responses into Categories: 25 Most Common Themes.
Coding Category
Recipes
DIY Crafts
Database or memory bank for ideas
Organization
Inspiration (general)
I use Pinterest for specific events
Visual appeal
Anticipation of ease of project
Overwhelming
Pinterest is not a motivational tool
I use Pinterest for specific tasks
Behavior or lifestyle change
Clutter from too many pins
Sense of community
Creative outlet
Exercise or fitness
Addiction or distraction
Healthy eating
Need for instruction
Picture of pin
Search engine
Academic use
Conversations with other pinners through comments
Home décor
Importance of time
% of Mentions
N
17.9
12.7
10.5
10.5
7.9
7.9
7.4
7.0
6.6
5.2
5.2
4.4
4.4
4.4
3.9
3.9
3.5
3.1
3.1
3.1
3.1
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
229
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
FIGURES
Figure 1. Screenshot of Pinterest’s home page
48
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
49
APPENDICES
Appendix A. Survey Questions
Pinterest: Motivations and Interests: Final
Q1 Hello. Thank you for taking my survey. I appreciate your help!
This survey is being conducted by a graduate student at American University as part of a
graduate degree program. Before you agree to take this survey, you need to know that your
decision to take part in this survey is voluntary. You can decide not to participate or to withdraw
at any time. To the best of my knowledge, this survey does not risk any harm. There are no costs
associated with taking this survey. You will not receive any compensation.
Your responses to the following questions are anonymous. It takes most people about 7 minutes
to complete this survey. The questions are about Pinterest and its implications in motivations and
behavior.
Q2 Consent to Participate in Research Identification of Investigators and Purpose of Study
You are being asked to participate in a research study conducted by Megan Patterson from
American University. The purpose of this study is to understand how Pinterest and its
implications in motivations and behavior. This study will contribute to the student’s completion
of her master’s thesis.
Research Procedures
Should you decide to participate in this research study, you will be asked to continue to the
survey implying your consent to participate once all your questions have been answered to your
satisfaction. This study consists of an online survey that will be administered to individual
participants via the web. You will be asked to provide answers to a series of questions related to
Pinterest.
Time Required
Participation in this study will require 10 minutes of your time.
Risks
The investigator does not perceive more than minimal risks from your involvement in this study.
Benefits
The investigator does not perceive that there are any potential benefits from participation in this
study. However, the benefits of the research as a whole include an improved understanding of
how Pinterest is able to be a communication channel of influence, contributing to the larger body
of research on this new social media platform.
Confidentiality
The results of this research will be presented in a master’s thesis. The results of this project will
be coded in such a way that the respondent’s identity will not be attached to the final form of this
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
50
study. The researcher retains the right to use and publish non-identifiable data. While individual
responses are confidential, aggregate data will be presented representing averages or
generalizations about the responses as a whole. All data will be stored in a secure location
accessible only to the researcher. Upon completion of the study, all information that matches up
individual respondents with their answers will be destroyed.
Participation and Withdrawal
Your participation is entirely voluntary. You are free to choose not to participate. Should you
choose to participate, you can withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may
also refuse to answer any individual question without consequences.
Questions about the Study
If you have questions or concerns during the time of your participation in this study, or after its
completion or you would like to receive a copy of the final aggregate results of this study, please
contact:
Investigator
Megan Patterson
School of Communication
American University
Email Address: mpatters@american.edu
Research Advisor
Joseph Graf
School of Communication
American University
Telephone: (202)-885-2147
Email Address: graf@american.edu
Questions about Your Rights as a Research Subject
Anthony Ahrens
Chair, Institutional Review Board
American University
(202)885-1714
ahrens@american.edu
Matt Zembrzuski
IRB Coordinator
American University
(202)885-3447
irb@american.edu
Giving of Consent
I have read this consent form and I understand what is being requested of me as a participant in
this study. I freely consent to participate. I have been given satisfactory answers to my questions.
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
51
The investigator provided me with a copy of this form. I certify that I am at least 18 years of age.
By clicking next, I am agreeing to participate in this study.
Q3. How old are you?
Q4. What is your gender?
! Male
! Female
! Other: ____________________
Q5. Do you have a Pinterest account?
! Yes
! No
If No Is Selected, Participants are taken to the end of the survey and thanked for their time.
Q6. The following questions ask about your Pinterest habits, likes, and dislikes.
Q7. How often do you use Pinterest?
! Almost Never
! Less than Once a Month
! Once a Month
! Once a Week
! Daily
Q8. How many boards do you have?
! 0. boards
! 1-2. boards
! 3.-4. boards
! 5.+ boards
Q9. Approximately how many pins do you have in total?
! Less than 2.5.0.
! About 5.0.0.
! About 1,0.0.0.
! About 1,5.0.0.
! About 2.,0.0.0.
! More than 2.,0.0.0.
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
Q10. Here is a complete list of Pinterest board categories. Please select the five categories that
you pin to most frequently.
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
Animals and Pets
Architecture
Art
Cars and Motorcycles
Celebrities
Design
DIY and Crafts
Education
Film, Music and Books
Food and Drink
Gardening
Geek
Hair and Beauty
Health and Fitness
History
Holidays and Events
Home Décor
Humor
Illustrations and Posters
Kids and Parenting
Men’s Fashion
Outdoors
Photography
Products
Quotes
Science and Nature
Sports
Tattoos
Technology
Travel
Weddings
Women’s Fashion
Q11. Drag and drop the categories you chose to rank them. Put the category you pin to most
frequently at the top, and the category you pin to least frequently at the bottom.
52
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
Q12. Where do you find pins to repin?
Very
Frequently
Frequently
53
Neutral
Infrequently
Very
Infrequently
Home feed
!
!
!
!
!
Popular feed
!
!
!
!
!
Everything feed
!
!
!
!
!
"Ideas" feed (new)
!
!
!
!
!
Using the search
bar to search for
something specific
!
!
!
!
!
Q13. Please answer the following questions. I use Pinterest when I am __________________.
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Looking for
inspiration for
something I will be
doing soon.
!
!
!
!
!
Looking for
inspiration for
something I might
be doing later.
!
!
!
!
!
Enjoying images
for a task that I
don’t anticipate
doing in the future.
!
!
!
!
!
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
54
Q14. I use Pinterest when I am trying to _____________.
All the time
Frequently
Sometimes
Infrequently
Never
Look for fashion
advice.
!
!
!
!
!
Find outfit or
clothing ideas.
!
!
!
!
!
Buy an article of
clothing.
!
!
!
!
!
Look at handmade
crafts.
!
!
!
!
!
Find Do-It-Yourself
(DIY) projects.
!
!
!
!
!
Seek a creative
outlet.
!
!
!
!
!
Search for
inspiration.
!
!
!
!
!
Find recipes.
!
!
!
!
!
Look at images of
food.
!
!
!
!
!
Find cooking or
baking tips.
!
!
!
!
!
Pass time.
!
!
!
!
!
Enjoy the site.
!
!
!
!
!
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
55
Q15. I use Pinterest when I am trying to _____________.
All the time
Frequently
Sometimes
Infrequently
Never
Search or browse
images.
!
!
!
!
!
Find something to
use in every day
life.
!
!
!
!
!
Find something to
use for a special
occasion or event.
!
!
!
!
!
Learn something.
!
!
!
!
!
Maintain a
collection of
images.
!
!
!
!
!
Organize my ideas.
!
!
!
!
!
Connect with other
people.
!
!
!
!
!
Connect with
friends.
!
!
!
!
!
Get repins of my
pins from friends.
!
!
!
!
!
Get repins of my
pins from strangers.
!
!
!
!
!
Q16. The following questions will ask about your behaviors and intentions surrounding Pinterest.
Q17. Take a minute to think of your three most recent pins, if you can. How would you
categorize them?
" A project (for example, a DIY craft or recipe)
" An event (for example, a wedding)
" A picture (for example, a beach)
" A skill or action (for example, a workout regimen)
" A new idea (for example, an inspiring quote)
" A product (for example, an article of clothing)
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
If respondents select “a project” in Q17, the following question is displayed.
Q18. When you pinned about that project, when did you anticipate using it?
! Within the next month.
! Within the next six months.
! Within the next year.
! Probably never.
If respondents select “an event” in Q17, the following question is displayed.
Q19. When you pinned about that event, when did you anticipate using it?
! Within the next month.
! Within the next six months.
! Within the next year.
! Probably never.
If respondents select “a skill” in Q17, the following question is displayed.
Q20. When you pinned about that skill, when did you anticipate using it?
! Within the next month.
! Within the next six months.
! Within the next year.
! Probably never.
If respondents select “a new idea” in Q17, the following question is displayed.
Q21. When you pinned that new idea, when did you anticipate using it?
! Within the next month.
! Within the next six months.
! Within the next year.
! Probably never.
If respondents select “a product” in Q17, the following question is displayed.
Q22. When you pinned that product, when did you anticipate using it?
! Within the next month.
! Within the next six months.
! Within the next year.
! Probably never.
56
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
57
Q23. Please keep the last three things you pinned in mind. How would you describe the influence
of those pins on your behavior?
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
The pins did not influence
my behavior or thinking.
!
!
!
!
!
The pins made me think of
something I would like to do
in the future.
!
!
!
!
!
The pins motivated me to do
something new or change my
behavior.
!
!
!
!
!
Q24. The following questions will ask about your thoughts on Pinterest and its use as a
motivator.
Q25. Pinterest can help me remember more things by pinning them to review or act on later.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q26. Pinterest is helpful in order to help me remember things that I would like to do in the
future.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q27. Pinterest impacts my ability to remember or act on the things I repin or like.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
Q28. I believe most Pinterest users will often act on things they repin.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q29. Acting on the things I repin would affect my lifestyle in some way.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q30. In the past, I have acted on things that I have pinned on Pinterest.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q31. I see myself starting or continuing to act on things I pin, in the future.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q36. I have changed my behavior based on the pins that I saw on Pinterest.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q37. I plan to change my behavior based on the pins that I have seen on Pinterest.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
58
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
59
Q38. In the last six months, I was inspired by Pinterest to __________.
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neither
Agree nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Learn more about a topic.
!
!
!
!
!
Follow an organization on
other social media platforms.
!
!
!
!
!
Get more involved with an
organization.
!
!
!
!
!
Start a project.
!
!
!
!
!
Complete a project.
!
!
!
!
!
Share an idea with a friend.
!
!
!
!
!
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neither
Agree nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Motivated.
!
!
!
!
!
Inspired.
!
!
!
!
!
Creative.
!
!
!
!
!
Excited.
!
!
!
!
!
Unique.
!
!
!
!
!
Depressed.
!
!
!
!
!
Dejected.
!
!
!
!
!
Overwhelmed.
!
!
!
!
!
Inadequate.
!
!
!
!
!
Sad.
!
!
!
!
!
Q39. After using Pinterest, I feel ___________.
Q40. How often do you repin something with the intention of doing it?
! At least once a week.
! About once a month.
! About once every six months.
! About once a year.
! Hardly ever.
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
60
Q41. When you repin something with the intention of doing it, how often do you follow through
with that intention?
! All of the Time
! Often
! Sometimes
! Rarely
! Never
Q48. The following questions will ask about your perceptions of businesses' use of Pinterest.
Q32. I have become more interested in a company or organization based on the pins I saw on
Pinterest.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q33. I have sought out more information about a company or organization based on the pins I
saw on Pinterest.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q34. I have volunteered for a company or organization based on the pins that I saw on Pinterest.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
Q35. I have donated to a company or organization based on the pins that I saw on Pinterest.
! Strongly Agree
! Agree
! Neither Agree nor Disagree
! Disagree
! Strongly Disagree
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
61
Q42. Thank you for your participation in this survey. I appreciate your responses! The next set of
six optional questions are open-ended, and are posed with the intention of allowing you to
express any further thoughts you have on Pinterest. If you would like to continue with the
survey, please select "Yes." If you would like to finish the survey here, please select "No."
! Yes, I have more thoughts on Pinterest!
! No, I have finished.
If respondents select “No, I have finished,” their survey results are recorded.
If respondents select “Yes, I have more thoughts on Pinterest,” the following were displayed.
Q43. What motivates you to complete a project or idea that you found on Pinterest?
Q44. Please describe any project(s) or idea(s) inspired by Pinterest that you completed below.
Q45. What do you see as the advantages of using Pinterest to motivate yourself at some point in
the future?
Q46. What do you see as the disadvantages of using Pinterest to motivate yourself at some point
in the future?
Q47. What else comes to mind when you think using Pinterest to motivate yourself?
Appendix B. Recruitment Language
Hello,
My name is Megan and I am a graduate student from the School of Communication at the
American University. I am writing to invite you to participate in my research study about
Pinterest and its potential for motivation and behavior change. If you decide to participate in this
study, you will answer questions about your Pinterest usage and habits. The survey will take
approximately 10 minutes of your time. Remember, this is completely voluntary. If you have any
questions about the study, please email at megan.t.patterson@gmail.com.
Please click here to take the survey.
Thank you very much!
Megan Patterson
AFTER THE PIN: PINTEREST INFLUENCING MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR
62
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