Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive study

Introduction: Although hypertension is common in the United States, the African American community is disproportionately affected by high blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of Facebook ads and posts for an online health campaign to promote blood pressure checks among A...

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Main Authors: Katherine J POLAK, Jessica LC SAPP, Jennifer L SEDILLO
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Edizioni FS 2020-09-01
Series:Journal of Health and Social Sciences
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Online Access:https://journalhss.com/wp-content/uploads/jhss_53_343-354.pdf
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author Katherine J POLAK
Jessica LC SAPP
Jennifer L SEDILLO
author_facet Katherine J POLAK
Jessica LC SAPP
Jennifer L SEDILLO
author_sort Katherine J POLAK
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Although hypertension is common in the United States, the African American community is disproportionately affected by high blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of Facebook ads and posts for an online health campaign to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States. Methods: The Measure Your Pressure (MYP) health campaign administered from May 2019 to August 2019 included Facebook advertisements, Facebook posts, and an online blog article. The Facebook adverti- sements included learn more ads, like page ads, and a web-based survey ad. These ads were delivered to two target audiences: 1) individuals at least 18 years old and located in the U.S., and 2) individuals at least 18 years old, located in the U.S., with special interest or behavior in African American culture, and multicultu- ral affinity: African American (US). A web-based survey was used to ask Facebook users’ opinions about the MYP Survey ad. To compare the ads between the general and interest groups, t-tests were used to analyze the reach, impressions, results, and cost per result. Results: There were 7 Facebook ads which reached 79,812 people. There were 121,683 impressions and 2,057 clicks. When comparing the ads between the general audience and interest groups, there was no si- gnificant difference for reach (P = 0.377), impressions (P = 0.427), results (P = 0.356), or cost per result (P = 0.484). There were 11 Facebook posts published which reached 2,171 users. Out of the 386 clicks received from the MYP Survey ad, there were only 11 that completed the web-based survey. Conclusion: This study shows that it may be possible to indirectly reach larger portions of at-risk indivi- duals with Facebook, but there is no significant difference between ad performance of target audiences using interest groups and general groups. Facebook does not make race demographics available to advertisers, so it is difficult to discern if the population of Facebook users reached were part of the African American community.
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spelling doaj-art-648b2222a1cc4e079d87c94499372a742025-01-18T18:20:29ZengEdizioni FSJournal of Health and Social Sciences2499-58862499-22402020-09-015334335410.19204/2020/sngf6Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive studyKatherine J POLAK0 Jessica LC SAPP1Jennifer L SEDILLO2MPH, Alumna, American Public University System, School of Health Sciences, Public Health Program, Charles Town, WV, United StatesDrPH, MPH, Associate Professor, American Public University System, School of Health Sciences, Public Health Program, Charles Town, WV, United StatesPhD, Associate Professor, American Public University System, School of Health Sciences, Public Health Program, Charles Town, WV, United StatesIntroduction: Although hypertension is common in the United States, the African American community is disproportionately affected by high blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of Facebook ads and posts for an online health campaign to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States. Methods: The Measure Your Pressure (MYP) health campaign administered from May 2019 to August 2019 included Facebook advertisements, Facebook posts, and an online blog article. The Facebook adverti- sements included learn more ads, like page ads, and a web-based survey ad. These ads were delivered to two target audiences: 1) individuals at least 18 years old and located in the U.S., and 2) individuals at least 18 years old, located in the U.S., with special interest or behavior in African American culture, and multicultu- ral affinity: African American (US). A web-based survey was used to ask Facebook users’ opinions about the MYP Survey ad. To compare the ads between the general and interest groups, t-tests were used to analyze the reach, impressions, results, and cost per result. Results: There were 7 Facebook ads which reached 79,812 people. There were 121,683 impressions and 2,057 clicks. When comparing the ads between the general audience and interest groups, there was no si- gnificant difference for reach (P = 0.377), impressions (P = 0.427), results (P = 0.356), or cost per result (P = 0.484). There were 11 Facebook posts published which reached 2,171 users. Out of the 386 clicks received from the MYP Survey ad, there were only 11 that completed the web-based survey. Conclusion: This study shows that it may be possible to indirectly reach larger portions of at-risk indivi- duals with Facebook, but there is no significant difference between ad performance of target audiences using interest groups and general groups. Facebook does not make race demographics available to advertisers, so it is difficult to discern if the population of Facebook users reached were part of the African American community.https://journalhss.com/wp-content/uploads/jhss_53_343-354.pdfadvertising as topic; african americans; blood pressure; internet; social media
spellingShingle Katherine J POLAK
Jessica LC SAPP
Jennifer L SEDILLO
Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive study
Journal of Health and Social Sciences
advertising as topic; african americans; blood pressure; internet; social media
title Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive study
title_full Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive study
title_fullStr Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive study
title_full_unstemmed Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive study
title_short Using Facebook Ads to promote blood pressure checks among African Americans in the United States: A descriptive study
title_sort using facebook ads to promote blood pressure checks among african americans in the united states a descriptive study
topic advertising as topic; african americans; blood pressure; internet; social media
url https://journalhss.com/wp-content/uploads/jhss_53_343-354.pdf
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