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Recruiting RCT Participants: To Facebook or Not to Facebook?
Author(s) -
Koenings M,
MartinBiggers J,
ByrdBredbenner C
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.584.2
Subject(s) - closing (real estate) , psychology , white (mutation) , advertising , race (biology) , medicine , demography , sociology , gender studies , biology , biochemistry , law , gene , business , political science
Little is known about how best to capture the interest of potential study participants using Facebook (FB) ads. Thus, the effectiveness of 64 FB recruitment ads for HomeStyles, a nutrition intervention for parents of preschoolers, was explored. Ads systematically varied by photo (4 races x 2 sexes), salutation (x2), and closing (x2). Four evaluators agreed 100% on Photo Selection Criteria (i.e., photos had similar lighting and clarity and depicted children of a specific race, sex, and age who had a “happy” expression) for 8 pictures. FB criteria were set to target ads to English speaking parents 20‐45y with children 0‐12y, who were interested in happy kids or fitness and wellness. FB ads ran 60 days resulting in 2639 HomeStyles website visits and 6 parent enrollments in the study. Ads showing White children resulted in a mean of 47 website visits vs. 41, 40, and 37 visits for ads showing Latino, Black, or Asian children. Ads showing girls resulted in a mean of 44 website visits vs. 38 for boys. Hey dads! salutation resulted in a mean of 45 website visits, followed by 43 for Hey moms & dads!, 41 for Hey moms!, and 36 for Hey parents! Ads that closed with Find out how! generated 44 website visits on average vs. 38 for ads closing with Click here! Fisher's Exact Test revealed no differences by race, sex, salutation, or closing. FB ads that attracted parents who subsequently enrolled in HomeStyles pictured White (50%) boys (50%), Hey parents! (67%) salutation, and Find out how! (67%) closing. Ad characteristics common to parent website visits and enrollment pictured White children and encouraged parents to Find out how!. Future research should focus on other cost‐effective electronic means for study participant recruitment and clarify best practices for motivating parents who visited the website to enroll. USDA NIFA #2011‐68001‐30170