Abstract
BackgroundStudies of tobacco use and other health behaviors have reported great challenges in recruiting young adults. Social media is widely used by young adults in the United States and represents a potentially fast, affordable method of recruiting study participants for survey research.ObjectiveThe present study examined Facebook as a mechanism to reach and survey young adults about tobacco and other substance use.MethodsParticipants were cigarette users, age 18-25 years old, living throughout the United States and recruited through Facebook to complete a survey about tobacco and other substance use. Paid advertising using Facebook’s Ad program over 13 months from 2010 Feb 28 to 2011 Apr 4 targeted by age (18-25), location (United States or California), language (English), and tobacco- and/or marijuana-related keywords. Facebook approved all ads.ResultsThe campaign used 20 ads, which generated 28,683,151 impressions, yielding 14,808 clicks (0.7% of targeted Facebook members), at an overall cost of $6,628.24. The average cost per click on an ad was $0.45. The success of individual ads varied widely. There was a rise in both clicks and impressions as the campaign grew. However, the peak for clicks was 3 months before the peak for ad impressions. Of the 69,937,080 accounts for those age 18-25 in the United States, Facebook estimated that 2.8% (n = 1,980,240) were reached through tobacco and marijuana keywords. Our campaign yielded 5237 signed consents (35.4% of clicks), of which 3093 (59%) met criteria, and 1548 (50% of those who met criteria) completed the survey. The final cost per valid completed survey was $4.28. The majority of completed surveys came from whites (69%) and males (72%). The sample averaged 8.9 cigarettes per day (SD 7.5), 3.8 years of smoking (SD 2.9), with a median of 1 lifetime quit attempts; 48% did not intend to quit smoking in the next 6 months.ConclusionsDespite wide variety in the success of individual ads and potential concerns about sample representativeness, Facebook was a useful, cost-effective recruitment source for young-adult smokers to complete a survey about the use of tobacco and other substances. The current findings support Facebook as a viable recruitment option for assessment of health behavior in young adults.
Highlights
Studies of tobacco use and other health behaviors have reported great challenges in recruiting young adults [1,2]
Despite wide variety in the success of individual ads and potential concerns about sample representativeness, Facebook was a useful, cost-effective recruitment source for young-adult smokers to complete a survey about the use of tobacco and other substances
In our previous work using the Internet to recruit young-adult smokers in survey research, advertisements across the Web yielded the largest proportion of recruited participants and completed surveys overall; Craigslist and an online sampling company were more successful at targeting young-adult smokers who went on to complete the survey and were the more cost-effective methods compared to Internet advertisements [12]
Summary
Studies of tobacco use and other health behaviors have reported great challenges in recruiting young adults [1,2]. An intervention for smokeless tobacco (Chewfree.com) used advertisements on Google.com and generated 9155 clicks and 511 intervention participants at a cost of $6.70 per participant; advertisements on other search engines generated 363 participants (mean age, 34.5 years) in 15 months [10]. In another online smoking-cessation intervention (Quitnet [11]) advertisements on Google resulted in 28,296 clicks, producing 5557 eligible participants. Social media is widely used by young adults in the United States and represents a potentially fast, affordable method of recruiting study participants for survey research
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