April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Using Social Media Ads to Increase and Diversify Older Adult Participation in Research: Insights From Iterative Concept Testing
The US population is becoming older and more diverse(1). Both older adults and racial and ethic minorities are associated with higher risk of developing noncommunicable diseases that are the key focus of ongoing research studies(2,3), however, these groups are notoriously under-represented in clinical research trials(4). Systematic reviews and investigations highlight several barriers to participation among these groups, but a consistent portion of it is attributable to lower motivation to participate among older adults5 and mistrust of the scientific community among racial and ethnic minorities(4). Thus, increasing participation of older adults and minorities in clinical research will likely require some targeted recruitment of these groups. This manuscript reports the results of focus groups conducted to assess the effectiveness of social media advertisements designed to persuade African American and Hispanic older adults, who are currently under-represented in Alzheimer’s and dementia studies, to sign up for an Alzheimer’s-focused research recruitment study. Insights from this analysis are generalizable to recruitment efforts across a broad span of medical research recruitment efforts.
Based on results of formative research reported elsewhere(6,7), advertisements promoting BHRR’s were developed with several different taglines that reflected beliefs theoretically most likely to increase intention. Ads were formatted for Facebook because that is the primary source of recruitment for registries involved in this project.
From September 2022-2023, we conducted 20 focus groups with a total of 220 participants. The sample was approximately 25% Hispanic, 47.1% White, 45.2% Black/African American, and 50% male. Participant mean age was 53.2 years (SD = 12.3). Participants were recruited through newspaper advertisements and Craigslist. Researchers conducted three groups per week, then paused to revise ads based on feedback before starting again.
Results from this study highlight the importance conducting formative research on specific design and delivery decisions that can influence message effectiveness for older and minority populations. Key issues were: 1.) platform concerns: given the target populations’ previously established mistrust of scientific research, soliciting participants online added another layer of skepticism to the recruitment process. Participants were wary of Internet scams and anything that was not immediately familiar was deemed suspicious. Concerns were alleviated by making the call to action and purpose explicit (e.g., “sign up for a Alzheimer’s and dementia-focused research registry” rather than “help end dementia”) and affiliating ads with sources participants had previously heard of (e.g., using the standard logo of a well-known University instead of developing a logo specific to the project); 2.) image diversity: regardless of message text, participants did not feel that they would think they were part of the target audience unless the people in the ads looked similar to them in race/ethnicity/age/ and in some cases clothing. Importantly, however, participants did not want to see only themselves represented in the ads. For racial and ethnic minorities, advertisements that included only images of people who were the same racial and ethnic group as them, without any diversity, were deemed untrustworthy. Results are discussed in the context of tailoring and targeting in persuasive messaging and the risk of over-accommodation.
Based on results of formative research reported elsewhere(6,7), advertisements promoting BHRR’s were developed with several different taglines that reflected beliefs theoretically most likely to increase intention. Ads were formatted for Facebook because that is the primary source of recruitment for registries involved in this project.
From September 2022-2023, we conducted 20 focus groups with a total of 220 participants. The sample was approximately 25% Hispanic, 47.1% White, 45.2% Black/African American, and 50% male. Participant mean age was 53.2 years (SD = 12.3). Participants were recruited through newspaper advertisements and Craigslist. Researchers conducted three groups per week, then paused to revise ads based on feedback before starting again.
Results from this study highlight the importance conducting formative research on specific design and delivery decisions that can influence message effectiveness for older and minority populations. Key issues were: 1.) platform concerns: given the target populations’ previously established mistrust of scientific research, soliciting participants online added another layer of skepticism to the recruitment process. Participants were wary of Internet scams and anything that was not immediately familiar was deemed suspicious. Concerns were alleviated by making the call to action and purpose explicit (e.g., “sign up for a Alzheimer’s and dementia-focused research registry” rather than “help end dementia”) and affiliating ads with sources participants had previously heard of (e.g., using the standard logo of a well-known University instead of developing a logo specific to the project); 2.) image diversity: regardless of message text, participants did not feel that they would think they were part of the target audience unless the people in the ads looked similar to them in race/ethnicity/age/ and in some cases clothing. Importantly, however, participants did not want to see only themselves represented in the ads. For racial and ethnic minorities, advertisements that included only images of people who were the same racial and ethnic group as them, without any diversity, were deemed untrustworthy. Results are discussed in the context of tailoring and targeting in persuasive messaging and the risk of over-accommodation.