Broad reach and targeted recruitment using Facebook for an online survey of young adult substance use.
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Studies 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. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined Facebook as a mechanism to reach and survey young adults about tobacco and other substance use. METHODS: Participants 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. RESULTS: The 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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. The current findings support Facebook as a viable recruitment option for assessment of health behavior in young adults.
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- Authors
- Ramo, D. E., & Prochaska, J. J.
- Affiliations
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ramo, Danielle E
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Internet Research
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2012-02-23
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e28
- ISSN
- 1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3374532
- OpenAlex
- W2123506998
- Cited by
- 404
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 50 · 2014: 44 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 28.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (13-KT-0152)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH083684)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA007250, K23DA018691, P-50 DA-09253, P50DA009253, DA09253, T32DA007250)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Keywords
- Facebook, social media recruitment, online survey recruitment, young adult smokers, tobacco use, cannabis use, paid advertising, cost per click, sample representativeness, smoking cessation intentions, Facebook page, Facebook Events
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Humans, Substance-Related Disorders, Internet, Young Adult, Social Networking
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