TY  - JOUR
AU  - McCarthy, Edwina
AU  - Mazza, Danielle
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/29
TI  - Cost and Effectiveness of Using Facebook Advertising to Recruit Young Women for Research: PREFER (Contraceptive Preferences Study) Experience
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e15869
VL  - 21
IS  - 11
KW  - social media
KW  - Facebook
KW  - recruitment
KW  - intervention study
KW  - patient education
KW  - internet
AB  - 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. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - http://www.jmir.org/2019/11/e15869/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/15869
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31782738
DO  - 10.2196/15869
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/15869
ER  -