Facebook Recruitment Using Zip Codes to Improve Diversity in Health Research: Longitudinal Observational Study

Cornelia Pechmann, Connor Phillips, Douglas Calder, Judith J Prochaska, Cornelia Pechmann, Connor Phillips, Douglas Calder, Judith J Prochaska

Abstract

Background: Facebook's advertising platform reaches most US households and has been used for health-related research recruitment. The platform allows for advertising segmentation by age, gender, and location; however, it does not explicitly allow for targeting by race or ethnicity to facilitate a diverse participant pool.

Objective: This study looked at the efficacy of zip code targeting in Facebook advertising to reach blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos who smoke daily for a quit-smoking web-based social media study.

Methods: We ran a general market campaign for 61 weeks using all continental US zip codes as a baseline. Concurrently, we ran 2 campaigns to reach black/African American and Hispanic-/Latino-identified adults, targeting zip codes ranked first by the percentage of households of the racial or ethnic group of interest and then by cigarette expenditure per household. We also ran a Spanish language campaign for 13 weeks, targeting all continental US zip codes but utilizing Facebook's Spanish language targeting. The advertising images and language were common across campaigns. Costs were compared for advertisement clicks, queries, applications, and participants, and yields were compared for the final three outcomes. We examined outcomes before and after the Cambridge Analytica scandal that broke in March 2018. Finally, we examined 2 promoted Facebook features: lookalike audiences and audience network placement.

Results: Zip code targeting campaigns were effective for yielding the racial or ethnic groups of interest. The black-/African American-focused versus general market campaign increased black/African American weekly queries (mean 9.48, SD 5.69 vs general market mean 2.83, SD 2.05; P<.001) and applicants (mean 1.11, SD 1.21 vs general market mean 0.54, SD 0.58; P<.001). The Hispanic-/Latino-focused versus general market campaign increased Hispanic/Latino weekly queries (mean 3.10, SD 2.16 vs general market mean 0.71, SD 0.48; P<.001) and applicants (mean 0.36, SD 0.55 vs general market mean 0.10, SD 0.14; P=.001). Cost metrics did not differ between campaigns at generating participants (overall P=.54). Costs increased post- versus prescandal for the black-/African American-focused campaign for queries (mean US $8.51, SD 3.08 vs US $5.87, SD 1.89; P=.001) and applicants (mean US $59.64, SD 35.63 vs US $38.96, SD 28.31; P=.004) and for the Hispanic-/Latino-focused campaign for queries (mean US $9.24, SD 4.74 vs US $7.04, SD 3.39; P=.005) and applicants (mean US $61.19, SD 40.08 vs US $38.19, SD 21.20; P=.001).

Conclusions: Zip code targeting in Facebook advertising is an effective way to recruit diverse populations for health-based interventions. Audience network placement should be avoided. The Facebook lookalike audience may not be necessary for recruitment, with drawbacks including an unknown algorithm and unclear use of Facebook user data, and so public concerns around data privacy should be considered.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrial.gov NCT02823028; https://ichgcp.net/clinical-trials-registry/NCT02823028.

Keywords: advertisement; smoking; social media.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: Unrelated to this project, JP has provided consultation to pharmaceutical and technology companies that make medications and other treatments for quitting smoking and has received funding from Facebook for planning evaluation of a mobile health intervention. JP and CP have served as expert witnesses in lawsuits against tobacco companies.

©Cornelia Pechmann, Connor Phillips, Douglas Calder, Judith J. Prochaska. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 05.06.2020.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean query yields of whites for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean query yields of blacks/African Americans for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean query yields of Hispanics/Latinos for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean applicant yields of whites for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean applicant yields of blacks/African Americans for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Mean applicant yields of Hispanics/Latinos for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Mean participant yields of whites for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Mean participant yields of blacks/African Americans for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Mean participant yields of Hispanics/Latinos for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Mean costs per advertisement click for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Mean costs per query for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Mean costs per applicant for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Mean costs per participant for Facebook advertising campaigns.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Mean costs per advertisement click for Facebook advertising campaigns before versus after privacy scandal.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Mean costs per query for Facebook advertising campaigns before versus after privacy scandal.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Mean costs per applicant for Facebook advertising campaigns before versus after privacy scandal.
Figure 17
Figure 17
Mean costs per participant for Facebook advertising campaigns before versus after privacy scandal.

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