Back To (Home) Life: Pinterest Empowers People to Take Control of Their Emotional Well-being
Each year, the start of September and the beginning of autumn is seen by many people around the world as a ‘second new year’. It’s a time when small improvements, a reset of goals and habits, and a fresh motivation to start healthy routines feels more achievable and more personal than New Year’s resolutions. At Pinterest, we usually call this time of the year ‘Back to Life’.
This year, instead of looking outside the home for inspiration, a fresh start in 2020 clearly begins within the home and within yourself. So, we’re calling this year’s transition ‘Back to (home) Life’. Because this year, people on Pinterest are transitioning back to life with an extra emphasis on going inside, both physically and mentally, to focus on the areas where they have the most control.
Pinners continue to reflect on personal growth, improvements, and mental wellness, specifically with significant spikes in “positivity” (+64%*). Life goals and travel plans have been replaced with personal projects—whether it’s home improvement or self improvement.
Gen Z, Men and Millennials are the three audiences that are especially turning to Pinterest even more this year. We took a closer look at the new habits and environment they are creating.
Gen Z seeks self love and safe havens
With so much uncertainty around areas like school and work shifts, Gen Z Pinners are seeking ways to stay positive and healthy with searches for “mental health check in” up 5X. These Pinners are still looking to get creative and try new activities according to increased searches for “ASMR food” (+84%), “mindful eating” (+44%), and “photoshoot ideas at home” (up 56x).
Gen Z is also focusing on finding serenity and creating mentally balanced spaces in their bedrooms with searches for “Zen bedroom ideas” (up 5x), “calming bedroom” (up 3x), and “feng shui bedroom layout” (up 2.5x) on the rise. Bedrooms also serve as a physical space to improve with searches for “indie room” (up 151x) and “hippie bedroom decor” (up 19x) increasing.
Millennials lean into mindful homelife
For the past six months, home has replaced work, school, the gym, and outdoor spaces have become one of the safest places to social distance. Millennial parents continue to prioritize keeping their families healthy and happy, while addressing their kids' mental health and self-care practices, with searches for “mental health activities for kids” (up 3.5x), “occupational therapy for kids” (up 2x) and “conscious parenting” (up 2x) increasing.
Millennial parents are also prioritizing new schedules and routines with searches for “schedule for kids at home” (up 20x) and “daily routine schedule for kids” (up 10x) on the rise. A top concern is also balancing screen time with healthy activities and searches are up for “kids workout routine” (+88%), “animal yoga poses for kids” (+ 56%), and “indoor swings for kids” (up 3x).
And, parents are searching for ways to turn their home into a place of play, with searches for “carnival games for kids” (up 3x), and “lava lamp experiments for kids” (up 21x).
Men spend more time sprucing up
The number of male Pinners has jumped nearly 50%** since last year, with men searching for homeschool inspiration, as well as improvement projects and those that also bring the kids in on the improvements around the home. Upgrading the home has become a clear priority with broad searches like “home improvement projects” (+78%) spiking, and more specific ones like “DIY projector screen” (+41%) and “woodworking projects for kids” (up 2x) on the rise.
Men are also turning to Pinterest for mental and physical health support like “art therapy activities” (+ 65%), “workout routine for men” (up 3.5x), and “mental strength quotes” (up 2.5x)—all on the rise.
Methodology:
Trends are calculated by comparing normalized searches in July 2020 to July 2019 amongst the indicated audience; Gen Z is ages 18-24, Millennials is ages 25-44; global.
** Pinterest internal data, year-over-year comparison between active male users in March 2nd 2020 - May 24th 2020 vs March 4th 2019-May 26th 2019; global.