Abstract
Introduction: Personas are based on real-life typologies of people that can be used to create characters and messages to communicate important health information through relatable narrative storylines. Persona development is data-driven and can involve multiple phases of formative research and evaluation; however, personas are largely underutilized in digital health research. The purpose of this study was to create and document persona development to deliver narrative-focused health education for parents on Twitter with the goal of increasing uptake of HPV vaccination among adolescents.Methods: Leveraging data from a mixed-method study conducted in the U.S. with a diverse population of parents with adolescents ages 9–14, we used both qualitative and quantitative data (e.g., the National Immunization Survey—Teen, focus groups, and social media) to create personas. These data sources were used to identify and develop key characteristics for personas to reflect a range of parents and their diverse understandings and experiences related to HPV vaccination. A parent advisory board provided insight and helped refine persona development.Results: Four personas emerged and were characterized as the (1) Informed Altruist, (2) Real Talker, (3) Information Gatherer, and (4) Supporter. Characteristics differed across personas and provided insights into targeted narrative strategies. Described attributes included demographics, psychographics, communication style, vaccine goals and aspirations, vaccine challenges and frustrations, and vaccine hesitancy.Discussion: This work demonstrates how multiple data sources can be used to create personas to deliver social media messages that can address the diverse preferences and needs of parents for HPV vaccine information. With increasing usage of social media for health information among parents, it is important for researchers to consider marketing and design thinking to create health communication messages that resonate with audiences.
Highlights
Personas are based on real-life typologies of people that can be used to create characters and messages to communicate important health information through relatable narrative storylines
We found little evidence of research examining the development of personas to utilize for disseminating health information through social media
Cross-cutting themes drawn from the key findings across different data sources emerged to ground our persona development
Summary
Personas are based on real-life typologies of people that can be used to create characters and messages to communicate important health information through relatable narrative storylines. The storytelling approach has the potential to reach and resonate with different populations and communities with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences [9,10,11,12], and can be a useful strategy to communicate science to non-expert audiences [13]. This may be relevant to vaccine science and communication, as storytelling has the potential to address concerns that are rooted more in emotions than lack of evidence [14, 15]. While the use of stories and sharing of experiences on social media may vary by user type (i.e., parents, teens, health providers) [20], various aspects of storytelling have become a commonly seen characteristic of social media posts
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