Evaluating the Effectiveness of Social Media In Communicating Flu Prevention Messages

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: CDC has used a variety of social media tools, especially Facebook and Twitter, to disseminate flu prevention messages. This evaluation was designed to help CDC better understand the effectiveness of its seasonal flu-related social media content. This evaluation will reveal how CDC’s online activities are influencing flu prevention behaviors, including intent to vaccinate or prescribe a vaccination. This evaluation seeks to answer several key research questions related to the use of Facebook and Twitter for disseminating influenza communication campaigns, including how CDC social media activities are impacting flu vaccination rates among mothers and healthcare providers; what the target audiences intend to do after they see this information – e.g., get vaccinated, wash their hands or other activities; why their flu-related health behaviors change over time based on interaction with flu messages; and how mothers and healthcare providers perceive CDC flu messages delivered in social media channels.

Methods: From October 2011 to January 2012, CDC conducted a comprehensive study involving a representative sample of 538 women with children (age 6 months to 18 years), and 300 healthcare providers recruited from an existing panel by an independent research firm. Mothers recruited into the study had not yet received a flu vaccination for themselves or their children. All online activity of participants opted-in to the study was passively tracked over the study period. When participants encountered flu content, they were asked questions designed to determine their flu-related behavior intentions; they were not directed to view any particular content. Participants were contacted post-content exposure to determine if they engaged in flu prevention behaviors.

Results: Preliminary analysis shows overall attention to flu-related content was high among both mothers and healthcare providers. During the study period, mothers enrolled in the study encountered flu-related content and answered 496 intention questions; healthcare providers answered 327 flu-related intention questions. Aggregate intent scores for mothers were negative, indicating flu-related content did not prompt mothers to seek influenza vaccinations for themselves or their children. Intent scores for healthcare providers, on the other hand, were positive, indicating flu-related content encountered by healthcare providers was highly likely to prompt them to recommend flu vaccination for their patients. Full analysis is scheduled to be completed prior to June 1, 2012.

Conclusions: Initial results suggest that mothers were not persuaded to seek flu vaccinations for themselves or their children by flu-related digital content from CDC or other sources. Further analysis will provide more insight into why flu content delivered via social media did not prompt mothers to seek flu vaccination. Healthcare providers were more likely to recommend flu vaccines for their patients after encountering flu-related digital content, providing support for the continued exploration of social media tools for sharing clinical information about influenza vaccination.

Implications for research and/or practice: The results of this evaluation will provide important information about how flu digital content produced by CDC and other sources influences intent and flu vaccination-related health behaviors among mothers and healthcare providers. It will also provide communicators insight into how to target efforts to reach both audiences with flu related information via social media.