The Doctors for Coronavirus Prevention Project Thanksgiving / Christmas Messaging Campaign
Purpose
Facebook ads with physician-delivered videos were shown before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and focused on staying safe during the COVID pandemic by limiting travel and mask-wearing.
Condition
- Covid19
Eligibility
- Eligible Ages
- Over 18 Years
- Eligible Genders
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- Individuals viewing the ads must be Facebook users, 18 years and older. Facebook will decide specifically which users receive the messages within a target geographical area (zip or county).
Exclusion Criteria
Study Design
- Phase
- N/A
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Sequential Assignment
- Intervention Model Description
- A total of 13 states, comprising 829 counties, centrally report COVID-19 cases at the ZCTA level. Two separate experiments were run within the study, one around Thanksgiving and one around Christmas. For each experiment, approximately half of the counties were randomized to high-intensity treatment with the remaining randomized to low-intensity treatment. In high-intensity counties, 3/4 of ZCTAs were treated and 1/4 were not. In low-intensity counties, 1/4 of ZCTAs were treated and 3/4 were not. In treated ZCTAs, Facebook users received ads with messages from physicians and other health personnel urging them to stay home and wear masks to stop the spread of COVID-19. Users in non-treated ZCTAs received no such ads. After exclusions, 820 counties were randomized to high- or low-intensity treatment during Thanksgiving and 767 counties were during Christmas.
- Primary Purpose
- Prevention
- Masking
- None (Open Label)
Arm Groups
| Arm | Description | Assigned Intervention |
|---|---|---|
|
Experimental High-Intensity Treatment Arm |
Treatment: Individuals received approximately 3 Facebook ads over a 2-week period. Each ad contained a short video recorded by a physician using a script that discusses staying safe during the holidays by considering not traveling and using a mask when appropriate. Randomization to treatment: The 13 states which centrally report COVID-19 cases at the ZCTA level contained 829 counties. At Thanksgiving, 9 counties were excluded due to data limitations. At Christmas, 62 counties were excluded due to data limitations and potential negative impacts in rural, conservative areas resulting from polarization in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. Approximately half of the counties were randomized to high-intensity treatment with the remaining randomized to low-intensity treatment. In high-intensity counties, 3/4 of ZCTAs were treated (i.e., Facebook users in those ZCTAs received ads) and 1/4 were not. In low-intensity counties, 1/4 of ZCTAs were treated and 3/4 were not. |
|
|
No Intervention Low-Intensity Control Arm |
Control: Individuals did not receive ads containing short physician-recorded videos. Randomization to treatment: The 13 states which centrally report COVID-19 cases at the ZCTA level contained 829 counties. At Thanksgiving, 9 counties were excluded due to data limitations. At Christmas, 62 counties were excluded due to data limitations and potential negative impacts in rural, conservative areas resulting from polarization in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. Approximately half of the counties were randomized to high-intensity treatment with the remaining randomized to low-intensity treatment. In high-intensity counties, 3/4 of ZCTAs were treated (i.e., Facebook users in those ZCTAs received ads) and 1/4 were not. In low-intensity counties, 1/4 of ZCTAs were treated and 3/4 were not. |
|
Recruiting Locations
More Details
- NCT ID
- NCT04644328
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Detailed Description
The investigators used Facebook ads to show a 20 second video clip recorded by Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard and Lynn Community health center doctors (6 people in all) to approximately 20,000,000 Facebook users. The ads will be shown before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday and will focus on staying safe - limiting travel and mask-wearing. The investigators will randomize exposure to the ad campaign at the ZIP code or county level to ask: Do the videos change mobility and Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday travel? Do they reduce the spread of COVID-19? Are there spillover impacts from the video messages? For example, if individuals decide to stay home, then do the geographical regions that tend to be visited by people from treated areas experience any effects, either through information spillovers or through a reduction in travel?