User Perceptions of the Make Healthy Normal campaign Facebook Page: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Facebook is used as part of public health communication efforts but little evidence is available on why people engage with health-related Facebook pages and what content appeals to them. This study aimed to investigate user perceptions of and experience with the Make Healthy Normal (MHN) Facebook page, part of a government campaign to address overweight and obesity in adults in New South Wales, Australia. This sequential mixed methods study comprised an online survey (n = 591) and six focus groups (n = 33) of Facebook users, including both fans (i.e., users who have "liked" the MHN page) and nonfans. We analyzed the online survey descriptively and employed inductive thematic analysis for the focus groups, integrating the two data sources at the stage of interpretation. Our results show that MHN and similar health pages are in demand but that there are a number of contextual and content-related factors that are critical in determining user engagement and over which page administrators have varying levels of influence. Contextual factors, including the drivers for user engagement and Facebook user practices, can be leveraged or managed to influence user engagement but they cannot be controlled. On the contrary, content factors, like the nature of posts, post presentation, and post subject, can be directly influenced by page administrators. Policymakers and practitioners can use these findings to inform the design and operation of their own Facebook pages and should look to conduct and disseminate robust evaluation of their pages to improve user satisfaction and engagement.

Awareness and use of telephone‐based behaviour change support services among clients of a community mental health service

“…9 In addition, multiple mass media campaigns and legislation may have contributed to increased knowledge of the Quitline. 28 Comparatively, mass media promotion of the Get Healthy Service was only funded to 2016, 29 with a more recent investment of resources into promoting referrals by health professionals. 36 Fewer than half of participants correctly identified that each service was free (44% Quitline and 36% Get Healthy Service).…”

Using Facebook to recruit for a public health campaign evaluation

“…Detailed characteristics of the participants are available elsewhere. 4 In brief, nearly 90% of the sample were women and almost two-thirds (63%) were aged 18 to 34 years, partly reflecting the fanbase of MHN (83% women and 52% aged 18 to 34 years). Additionally, more participants from high socio-economic areas completed the survey than would be expected in the general population: 75% were from the least disadvantaged areas (Socio-Economic Index for Areas quintiles 1 to 3).…”

Facebook-Based Social Marketing to Reduce Smoking in Australia’s First Nations Communities: An Analysis of Reach, Shares, and Likes

“…Content from other sources may have had a higher novelty value than the local content; other research has shown that novelty can be an important factor in generating engagement [ 49 ]. This result may also reflect an effort to be particularly selective about choosing content from other sources, particularly when it contained nonlocal content, which is perceived to be specifically relevant to the local community.…”

“…However, those studies explored decision making for sharing posts on personal pages, which may differ from the perceptions of posts by organizations. An evaluation of an Australian state government health promotion campaign’s Facebook page found that users expressed a preference for positive content [ 49 ], but such content was not associated with higher engagement [ 30 ]. The lower reach achieved by positive content in our study may reflect the fact that the coding of most of the remaining posts was contested between the 2 coders or was coded as neutral because it included both positive and negative elements.…”

“…Previous research has found that the use of paid posts can significantly boost reach; however, it has also shown that organic (nonpaid) reach is associated with generating greater page engagement per person reached [ 30 ], suggesting that high quality, relevant, and appealing content is still essential if a Facebook campaign is to be successful. Other research has found that page administrators can leverage contextual factors that promote user engagement with pages (eg, the perceived trustworthiness of page, user patterns of use), but these factors cannot be controlled by page administrators [ 49 ]. Given the unique role of ACCHOs in delivering health services to First Nations Australians [ 54 , 55 ], posts by ACCHOs may generate engagement because they are seen as a worthy initiative.…”