LB1492 Facebook advertising for melanoma prevention

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the reach and impact of indoor tanning prevention messages placed as advertisements on social media. We conducted focus groups with 14 women aged 18-35 who used tanning beds within the past year, to investigate their attitudes and motivations regarding indoor tanning. We used the qualitative findings of our focus groups to develop three videos: a humorous parody music video, a message by an Instagram celebrity, and a fact-based video on the tanning bed industry. We ran these videos as advertisements on Facebook for 10 days. Our outcomes of interest were reach and impact. Reach was defined as the number of individuals exposed, views, and engagement. To measure impact, Facebook conducted a randomized trial on a subset of the study population. The intervention group saw at least one of our videos; the control group saw their regular Facebook newsfeed. Participants were asked 3 questions: 1) Do you recall seeing a video about the risks of tanning beds online or on a mobile device in the last 2 days? N=877, 2) Do tanning beds cause wrinkles and skin cancer? N=3,216, 3) How likely are you to use a tanning bed in the next year? N=3,213. This study was IRB approved. The videos appeared on the Facebook newsfeeds of our participants 2,918,395 times, reaching 1,236,234 individuals an average of 2.36 times each. Overall, the videos received 1,288 comments, 11,415 reactions and 4,201 shares. The parody music video had the highest engagement and the fact-based video had the lowest. In the randomized survey, 19.2% of the exposure group responded “yes” to the recall question, compared to 6.9% in the control group. The results for knowledge and intent were not statistically significant. Online, targeted advertising on social media may be an effective way to deliver public health messaging. Further research is needed to evaluate the types of messages, frequency, and delivery methods that ensure lasting behavior change.