scholarly journals Using social media to target hard-to-reach populations: The search for consumers of online raw DNA interpretation services (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiernan Cahill ◽  
Blake Wertz ◽  
Qiankun Zhong ◽  
Andrew Parlato ◽  
John Donegan ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been a proliferation of third-party online services available to consumers to interpret “raw DNA” from direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies. Little is known about who uses these services and the downstream health implications. Identifying this hard-to-reach population of consumers for research raised questions about the most effective recruitment methods to undertake. Past studies have found that online social media survey distribution can be cost effective for targeting hard-to-reach populations [1] yet comparative efficacy information across platforms is limited. OBJECTIVE The present study set out to identify the most effective online strategies to identify and recruit the target population of direct to consumer genetics testing (DTC-GT) users who also made use of third-party interpretation services to analyze their raw genetic data. Online survey recruitment methods varying by social media platform and advertising method were compared in terms of cost-effectiveness and demographics of survey respondents. METHODS Five online survey distribution conditions were examined; four paid advertising services and one unpaid service. For the paid services, a 2x2 quasi-experimental design compared social media platform (Facebook vs. Twitter) and advertising tracking metric (by click vs. by conversion). The fifth unpaid comparison method consisted of study postings on the social media platform Reddit without any paid advertising. Links to identical online versions of the study questionnaire were posted for 10-14 days for each of the distribution conditions, which allowed tracking the number of respondents that entered and completed the questionnaire by distribution condition. RESULTS A total of 452 individuals were recruited to the study through all conditions. Nearly equivalent number of participants were recruited from paid campaigns on Facebook (n = 168) and Twitter (n = 170), with a smaller sample recruited on Reddit (n = 114). Significantly more participants were recruited through conversion tracking (n = 232) than through click tracking campaigns (n = 106; X2(3) = 85.432, p < .001). Response rates were found to be partially driven by organic sharing of recruitment materials between social media users. Conversion tracking was more cost-effective than click tracking across paid social media platforms. Significant differences in terms of gender and age distributions were noted between platforms and between tracking metrics. CONCLUSIONS Online recruitment methods were effective at recruiting participants from a hard-to-reach population in a short time frame. There were significant differences in the effectiveness of various paid advertising techniques. Community-based recruitment methods also appeared to perform adequately, yet may be limited by the number of users accessible in open community groups. Future research should evaluate the impact of organic sharing of recruitment materials, since this appeared to play a substantial role in the observed effectiveness of different methods.

10.2196/12980 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. e12980
Author(s):  
Tiernan J Cahill ◽  
Blake Wertz ◽  
Qiankun Zhong ◽  
Andrew Parlato ◽  
John Donegan ◽  
...  

Background In recent years, there has been a proliferation of third-party Web-based services available to consumers to interpret raw DNA from direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. Little is known about who uses these services and the downstream health implications. Identifying this hard-to-reach population of consumers for research raised questions about the most effective recruitment methods to undertake. Past studies have found that Web-based social media survey distribution can be cost-effective for targeting hard-to-reach populations, yet comparative efficacy information across platforms is limited. Objective The aim of this study was to identify the most effective Web-based strategies to identify and recruit the target population of direct-to-consumer genetic testing users who also made use of third-party interpretation services to analyze their raw genetic data. Web-based survey recruitment methods varying by social media platform and advertising method were compared in terms of cost-effectiveness and demographics of survey respondents. Methods A total of 5 Web-based survey distribution conditions were examined: 4 paid advertising services and 1 unpaid service. For the paid services, a 2x2 quasi-experimental design compared social media platforms (Facebook vs Twitter) and advertising tracking metrics (by click vs by conversion). The fifth unpaid comparison method consisted of study postings on the social media platform, Reddit, without any paid advertising. Links to identical Web-based versions of the study questionnaire were posted for 10 to 14 days for each of the distribution conditions, which allowed tracking the number of respondents that entered and completed the questionnaire by distribution condition. Results In total, 438 individuals were recruited to the study through all conditions. A nearly equivalent number of participants were recruited from paid campaigns on Facebook (n=159) and Twitter (n=167), with a smaller sample recruited on Reddit (n=112). Significantly more participants were recruited through conversion-tracking (n=222) than through click-tracking campaigns (n=104; Z=6.5, P<.001). Response rates were found to be partially driven by organic sharing of recruitment materials among social media users. Conversion tracking was more cost-effective than click tracking across paid social media platforms. Significant differences in terms of gender and age distributions were noted between the platforms and between the tracking metrics. Conclusions Web-based recruitment methods were effective at recruiting participants from a hard-to-reach population in a short time frame. There were significant differences in the effectiveness of various paid advertising techniques. Recruitment through Web-based communities also appeared to perform adequately, yet it may be limited by the number of users accessible in open community groups. Future research should evaluate the impact of organic sharing of recruitment materials because this appeared to play a substantial role in the observed effectiveness of different methods.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Du ◽  
Wei Jiang

ABSTRACT This paper examines the association between firm performance and social media. Based on a sample of S&P 1500 firms, the study finds that firms with a social media presence are more highly valued by the market and have higher future financial performance. Further analysis indicates that the impact of social media on firm performance varies depending on the social media platform involved. Finally, using a restricted sample of Global 100 firms, the study finds some evidence that a higher level of social media engagement is associated with higher firm performance. Overall, these findings provide consistent evidence of the positive impact of social media technologies on firm performance. Data Availability: All data are available from public sources.


Author(s):  
Nasser Fathi Easa

This article aims to investigate the impact of social media strategies on student satisfaction at Egyptian universities. The research employed four social media strategies (the Predictive Practitioner, Creative Experimenter, Social Media Champion and Social Media Transformer). A survey was posted to students Facebook groups in different universities. 530 students from the universities of Alexandria, Tanta Damanhour, Kafrelsheikh, Damietta, and Suez responded to the survey. It was noted that Facebook was the most common social media platform used. The Predictive Practitioner, Creative Experimenter, and Social Media Champion strategies were not clearly implemented, as opposed to the Social Media Transformer. It was noted that there was a lack of satisfaction of students with the information reliability, responsiveness and privacy faculties unusually posted on Facebook. It has been found that the four social media strategies account for positively influencing student satisfaction at Egyptian universities.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Millward ◽  
Jane Tiller ◽  
Michael Bogwitz ◽  
Helen Kincaid ◽  
Shelby Taylor ◽  
...  

AbstractPurposeThe increasing popularity of direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) is thought to be creating a burden on clinical genetic health services worldwide. However, no studies have collected recent evidence regarding the extent of this impact in Australia.MethodsWe administered an online survey to Australian clinical genetics services, asking questions related to DTCGT-related referrals received and outcomes over the past 10 years.ResultsEleven publicly-funded clinical genetics services completed the survey, reporting over 100 DTCGT-related referrals. Most referrals (83%) were made by general practitioners seeking interpretation of DTCGT results. More than 30% of referrals related to imputed genetic risk estimates generated from third-party web-based software tools. Services reported low validation rates for DTCGT results (<10%). Procedures for managing DTCGT referrals and granting appointments were variable between services, with most services (8/11) lacking specific procedures.ConclusionOur study helps quantify the impact of DTCGT on clinical genetics services, and highlights the impact of imputed genetic risk estimates generated from third-party software.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 8636-8642

Social media are web-based communication tools that enable people to interact with each other by both sharing and consuming information. They refer to a group of Internet-based application which is used to create and exchange user-generated content. A recent definition of social media suggests that it is a channel that allows users to opportunistically interact and selectively self-present, either in real-time or asynchronously, with both broad and narrow audiences. Corporate reporting refers to the process of communicating both financial and non-financial information about the resources and performance of a company. Corporate reporting includes the integrated reporting, financial reporting, corporate governance, executive remuneration, corporate social responsibility and narrative reporting. This study is carried out to examine the adoption of social media among Malaysian companies by industry type; and the impact of social media adoption on company’s performance. This study used Top 100 companies in Malaysia as the sample selected based on their market capitalization. These companies are considered to be leading companies that drive the Malaysian economy. It is expected that companies may use multiple forms of social media since users utilize different types of social media platform for different purposes. Therefore, this study considered various types of social media that are commonly used by companies. By using content analysis, the uses of social media were classified into 11 categories including investor relations, corporate social responsibility and financial reporting. The companies are categorized into four quartiles in order to determine whether there are differences in social media adoption by company size or growth opportunity. Statistical model is developed in examining the impact of social media adoption on company’s performance. The data of this study were collected within a period of 3 months and the social media platforms selected were Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, Google+ and LinkedIn since these platforms were regarded as common among users. The analyzed results suggest that companies from trading or services industry used social media more frequently as compared to the other industries. It is also reported that the highest group of companies that use social media platform comes from those companies that are having the total sales between RM589 million and RM1,245 million. However, there is no notable difference in the adoption of social media in terms of growth opportunities measured by market to book value among Malaysian companies. It is also discovered that the use of social media has positive and significant association with companies’ performance after controlling for size of the company and its leverage. The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge in relation to a new dimension of corporate reporting as well as to the management of the companies


Author(s):  
Lisnawita Lisnawita ◽  
Lucky Lhaura Van FC ◽  
Musfawati Musfawati

<p class="Abstract" align="center"><strong>ABSTRAK</strong></p><p>Zaman sekarang sangat  mudah mendapatkan informasi, karena setiap orang sudah bisa terhubung dengan internet. Terutama media sosial, Jika informasi yang diterima bagus, maka pengguna akan mendapatkan kualitas informasi yang bagus, akan tetapi jika informasi yang diterima hoax, maka akan berdampak buruk bagi si penggguna media sosial. Setiap orang punya <em>platform </em>sosial media lebih dari satu, seperti <em>youtube,  facebook, whatsapp, instagram,</em> dll. <em>Platform</em> ini yang sering mereka gunakan untuk mendapatkan informasi yang dibutuhkan.</p><p>Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah Menganalisa Pengaruh Media sosial <em>(Instagram)</em><em>(Y)</em><em> </em>terhadap <em>Lifestyle</em> (X1)dan Prestasi mahasiswa(X2) sehingga dapat memberikan informasi mengenai pentingnya dampak penggunaan media sosial bagi mahasiswa dalam merubah pola pikir dan wawasan. Hasil Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengaruh variable X1 dan X2 secara simultan terhadap variable Y adalah sebesar 40, 5%</p><p class="Abstract"> </p><p class="Abstract">                                                                                                                                                       </p><p class="Abstract"><strong>Kata Kunci</strong>: Instagram, Prestasi akademik, Lifestyle.</p><p><em> </em></p><p class="IndexTerms"> </p><p class="Abstract" align="center"><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p><pre>       It's effortless to get information these days because everyone can connect to the internet. Mainly social media, If the information received is right, and then the user will get the correct quality information; however, if a hoax can be the news, it will be corrupt for the social media user. Everyone has more than one social media platform, such as YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. The purpose of this study is to Analyze the Effect of Social Media (Instagram) (Y) on Lifestyle (X1) and Student Achievement (X2) so that it can provide information about the impact of using social media for students in changing mindset and understanding. The results showed that the effect of variables X1 and X2 simultaneously on the Y variable was 40.5%</pre><p> </p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 120-120
Author(s):  
Malik Ellington ◽  
Jeneene Connelly ◽  
Priscilla Clayton ◽  
Christina Collazo-Velazquez ◽  
Yaisli Lorenzo ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives To analyze the effectiveness of social media for recruitment compared to traditional methods, to calculate an average impression/reach to participant recruitment ratio from social media, and to identify the social media platforms most effective in recruiting study participants. Methods Studies within any date of publication were identified from 5 databases and included if any social media platform was used for the recruitment of participants of all age groups and if studies were linked to nutrition, obesity and physical activity. Studies without results on number of participants recruited using social media or those targeting participants with chronic conditions were excluded. Results 173 total studies were identified, 54 were duplicates, 61 were removed after initial screening and another 34 were removed after full text review; resulting in 24 studies included in this review. Among studies using both traditional (printed, word of mouth, etc) and social media methods for recruitment, average recruitment was 54% from traditional methods compared to 40% from social media. A total of 14 studies reported data on recruitment cost with an average of $33 per participant (range $0–$258). Average participants recruited via social media to an “in-person” interventional study was 128 (range 8–426), to participate in an online survey 2,739 (range 63–17,069), and for other online delivered interventions 349 (range 3–1242). Regarding advertisement (ad) reach and interaction, 18 studies that reported results showed that 0.73% of those reached by study ads were enrolled and 30.7% of those that interacted with ads were enrolled. The most frequent social media platform used for recruitment was Facebook (97%), followed by Twitter (17%), and Instagram (4%). Conclusions Among studies using both traditional methods and social media, there were less people recruited using social media. While social media was able to reach more potential participants, only one third of those who interacted with ads were enrolled. Many of the studies only required participants to respond to a survey; therefore, more research is needed to identify the effectiveness of using social media for recruiting participants for studies that require a more intense participation. Funding Sources National Institutes of Health – Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikas Gupta

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the role of social media on the hotel decision-making process of consumers during the evaluation stage of searching, identifying the alternatives and selecting a hotel in India. It will help the stakeholders in the hotel industry of India to make the social media platform more efficient for consumers by providing inputs on the factors consumers consider while making online hotel purchase. Design/methodology/approach This study involves an exploratory qualitative approach which includes 32 face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews with the social media platform users. The selection of interviewees for this study has been done on the basis of a non-random purposive sampling approach. Findings The findings reveal that social media plays an important role in affecting the way consumers search, decide and book hotels. It also suggests that social media helps consumers in collecting information about products and services, assessing alternatives and making their choices. It confirms that while negative facets exist, the positive benefits outweigh the negative aspects of using social media when selecting a hotel. The results also reveal the impact of circumstantial influence related to social media on hotel selection, on the basis of content source and the level of trust and accuracy in the content. Practical implications This study has some strategic implications for hospitality marketing and management related to a better understanding of the influence of social media on the hotel customer decision-making process. The study shows that a variety of social media with associated content sources and levels add to the complexity of hotel-related information search and decision behaviour. Originality/value The study makes a contribution by addressing the existing gaps and bridging the arena of consumer behaviour and social media literature in a hotel context and sheds light on how consumer decisions while selecting a hotel are influenced through social media. The core contribution is the generation of factors through in-depth interviews which are based on real-life scenarios relating to the influence of social media on hotel decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Nesreen A. Salim ◽  
Fahed Jubair ◽  
Yazan M. Hassona ◽  
Sarah Izriqi ◽  
Dana Al-Fuqaha’a

Objectives. The demand for esthetic dentistry is growing, and social media constitute the main driving force behind this revolution. Twitter is a leading social media platform; however, there is a lack of research on the pattern of communications and the impact of Twitter on esthetic dentistry. The purpose of this study was to analyze the content of tweets related to esthetic dentistry and to investigate how Twitter has affected the perception of, and demand for, esthetic dentistry. Moreover, it aimed to assess the potential benefits and risks of esthetic dentistry advertising strategies on Twitter as a potential social media platform. Materials and Methods. Using a specialized web scrapping tool made available by the Python programming language, a total of 54,000 public tweets were downloaded from Twitter at real-time by matching specific keywords. The downloaded tweets were manually filtered, and 13,787 tweets were included and categorized into four tweet sets by content. Results. The main categories were tweets regarding specific cosmetic procedure, totaling 56.53% (43.2% for veneers, 13.3% for whitening), advertisements (36.72%), information (5.53%), and general cosmetic dentistry (1.22%). Negative opinions towards veneers and whitening were the most common themes (68.03% and 43.44%). For veneers, illegal use for kids was the most common negative theme (59.7%) and being destructive for whitening (86.3%). Positive opinions counted 6.26% of veneers and 4.3% of whitening tweets. Advertising for whitening products was the second most common between all tweets (16.6%), and advertising for dental practices was the third (14.7%). Presenting facilities/services was the most common marketing strategy for dental practices (49.7%). Twitter was weakly used to circulate educational content (5.5%) and to post reviews (0.75%). Conclusion. Twitter was extensively used to share experiences/opinions towards dental cosmetic interventions. Advertising is another vital use of this platform. However, circulating information was the least common use of this social media. Additionally, tweeters were rarely to post online reviews and specific advices and recommendations regarding esthetic dentistry. Moreover, females tended to participate and tweet more significantly in cosmetic-related topics than males. This platform should be tailored efficiently to target users’ priorities and to improve health literacy and self-care. Twitter was weakly used to circulate educational content according to this study and rarely used to share online reviews.


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