Understanding Pinterest as a Social Media Platform - Users' Perspectives at 6th iCBR Conference

6th International Consumer Brand Relationships Conference May 19-21, 2019, Cancun, Mexico Understanding Pinterest as a Social Media Platform Brand: Users Perspectives Dr Anita Basalingappa Professor in Marketing & Chairperson, Online Programs MICA Ahmedabad, Gujarat, INDIA

Founded by Ben Silbermann, San Francisco CA Monthly active users: 250mn Average time spent on Pinterest: 14.2 minutes Pinterest users pin items they like so that their friends and followers can view curated lists of subjects such as recipes, clothing items, household goods and places to travel, providing valuable and targeted data about consumers interests and their intent to buy Market Value in 2019: $15bn Revenues: $700mn Ad revenue: $1bn Social Media Platform/ Start date Users (in million) Average time spent (in minutes per day) Opportunity for gratification and networking Facebook: February 2004 2.32bn 58 High Instagram: July 2010 1bn 53 High Twitter: March 2006 326 High Snapchat: September 2011 300 49.5 Low Pinterest: March 2010 250 14.2 Low LinkedIn: May 2003 590 17 (per month) High https://www.omnicoreagency.com/pinterest-statistics/ Anita Basalingappa, MICA, 6th iCBR, Cancun, May 19th to 21st, 2019

Background Literature Background Literature: : Fajer and Schouten (1995); Fournier (1998); Fetscherin and Heinrich (2014); Hollenbeck and Kaikati (2012); Escalas and Bettman (2005) : Consumer Brand Relationships Social media users consumption of social media content sow the seeds for future exploration (Syrdal and Briggs, 2018) Uses and gratification theory (Bulmer and Katz, 1973) Information & Education; Entertainment; Personal Identity; Integration and Social Interaction; Escapism Studies have explored motivations for using visual social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest and also emphasized the need to understand changing social media use by social media users overtime (Jin et al., 2017). Technology acceptance model (Davis, 1989) Perceived usefulness; Perceived ease of use Pinterest is found to be least frequently visited social media site compared to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, though the time spent per visit is the maximum on Pinterest (Clark et al., 2017). Relational maintenance literature (Dindia & Canary, 1993; Montgomery, 1993) Relational longevity & stability; Quality of relationship; Keeping relationship statusquo; Repair; Managing dialectical tensions Anita Basalingappa, MICA, 6th iCBR, Cancun, May 19th to 21st, 2019

Research Questions Method Data Collection: Semi-structured interviews 123 respondents across India Respondents were Pinterest account holders with: A minimum of 10 minutes of usage per day At-least once in a week active participation What does Pinterest as a social media brand mean for social media users? What is the relationship between Pinterest users and Pinterest as a social media platform brand? Respondent Profile: Average age: 28.1 Max age: 54; Minimum age: 19 Equal representation of two genders male and female Occupation: Mostly working professionals, in minority students and homemakers Anita Basalingappa, MICA, 6th iCBR, Cancun, May 19th to 21st, 2019

What does Pinterest as a social What does Pinterest as a social media brand mean for social media brand mean for social media users? media users? Creative; Inspiring; Ideas; No nonsense platform; Unlike other social media platforms; Visual platform- Only similar to Instagram; Pictorial search engine can be compared with Google; Ease of use Unlike social media; hardly upload/change their profile picture; it has ideas unlimited minus the noise when compared with other social media networking platforms It can transform any idea into extraordinary idea and can change minds Almost like an album, local bookshop, art gallery for a variety of requirements; Provides fuel for imagination; friend in need is a friend indeed; Moodboard; Cupboard of ideas Anita Basalingappa, MICA, 6th iCBR, Cancun, May 19th to 21st, 2019

What What is the relationship between is the relationship between Pinterest users and Pinterest as a social Pinterest users and Pinterest as a social media platform brand? media platform brand? Need for the relationship with Pinterest is for sourcing ideas and inspiration and a go-to place for any creative mind s requirement Plays the role of a pictorial expert: Go-to platform Pictorial Search engine: Creative space Professional, Moodboard, trust worthy, safe Focus is on inspiring ideas and not networking Functional and experiential description and less of symbolic connections Aladdin and Genie; Mowgli and Balloo; Vikram and Betal Chale to chand tak, warna shyam tak (can go up to the moon else till the evening) Magnet with a kaleidoscopic wheel which is a visual treat Logo, Red colour, Pins, Safe Those who tend to compare with other SNS do not prefer Pinterest, but those who know its uniqueness swear by it Though the platform has something for everyone, specifically it is found apt for creative minds Architects, Interior designers, DIY experts, Painters, Data Analysts, Photographers, Typography, Graphic designers, stylists, Fashion, Geeks, homemakers, fitness freaks, Need to explore self brand connection for Pinterest vis- -vis all other SNS Anita Basalingappa, MICA, 6th iCBR, Cancun, May 19th to 21st, 2019

Thank you Thank you anita.basalingappa@micamail.in abasalingappa Relatively active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & LinkedIn Exist on Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr . only to explore as of now