@Article{info:doi/10.2196/15869,
author="McCarthy, Edwina
and Mazza, Danielle",
title="Cost and Effectiveness of Using Facebook Advertising to Recruit Young Women for Research: PREFER (Contraceptive Preferences Study) Experience",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2019",
month="Nov",
day="29",
volume="21",
number="11",
pages="e15869",
keywords="social media; Facebook; recruitment; intervention study; patient education; internet",
abstract="Background: Social media is a popular and convenient method for communicating on the Web. The most commonly used social networking website, Facebook, is increasingly being used as a tool for recruiting research participants because of its large user base and its ability to target advertisements on the basis of Facebook users' information. Objective: We evaluated the cost and effectiveness of using Facebook to recruit young women into a Web-based intervention study (PREFER). The PREFER study aimed to determine whether an educational video could increase preference for and uptake of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Methods: We placed an advertisement on Facebook over a 19-day period from December 2017 to January 2018, inviting 16- to 25-year-old women from Australia to participate in a Web-based study about contraception. Those who clicked on the advertisement were directed to project information, and their eligibility was determined by using a screening survey. Results: Our Facebook advertisement delivered 130,129 impressions, resulting in over 2000 clicks at an overall cost of Aus {\$}918 (Aus {\$}0.44 per click). Web-based project information was accessed by 493 women. Of these, 462 women completed the screening survey, and 437 (437/463, 95{\%}) women were eligible. A total of 322 young women participated in Surveys 1 and 2 (74{\%} response rate), and 284 women participated in Survey 3 (88{\%} retention rate), with an advertising cost of Aus {\$}2.85 per consenting participant. Conclusions: Facebook proved to be a quick, effective, and cost-efficient tool for recruiting young Australian women into a study that was investigating contraceptive preferences. However, Web-based recruitment may result in sociodemographic biases. Further research is required to evaluate whether Facebook is suitable for recruiting older study populations. ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/15869",
url="http://www.jmir.org/2019/11/e15869/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/15869",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31782738"
}