According to a new report by Vision Critical, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter drive as much in-store purchasing as online purchasing, but affect purchasing behavior in different ways. The research gathered 5,900 responses to online surveys to determine how social media influences a consumer’s path to purchase. Facebook was best for motivating customers to make purchases offline and online, while those who purchased after viewing on Pinterest hadn’t thought of making that purchase until viewing the item on the network. Ultimately, technology items – after being recommended to users – are most frequently purchased directly as a result of a recommendation from a friend or social network.