How to Avoid Lower Priority for Smoking Cessation Support Content on Facebook: An Analysis of Engagement Bait

Jezdancher Watti, Máté Millner, Kata Siklósi, Csaba Hamvai, Oguz Kelemen and Dávid Pócs ()
Additional contact information
Jezdancher Watti: Department of Behavioral Sciences, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary
Máté Millner: Department of Behavioral Sciences, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary
Kata Siklósi: Department of Behavioral Sciences, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary
Csaba Hamvai: Department of Behavioral Sciences, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary
Oguz Kelemen: Department of Behavioral Sciences, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary
Dávid Pócs: Department of Behavioral Sciences, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Facebook demotes “engagement bait” content that makes people interact. As a result of this sanctioning, public health content can reach fewer Facebook users. This study aims to determine the negative effect of engagement bait and find alternative techniques. In a three-year period, 791 smoking cessation support content was included ( n = 791). The Facebook posts were classified into “engagement bait”, “alternative techniques” and control groups. Facebook metrics were compared between the study and control groups. The reach of Facebook page fans was significantly lower in the engagement bait group compared to the control group. On the other hand, the alternative techniques had a significantly lower rate of negative Facebook interactions, as well as significantly higher click rates compared to the control group. This is the first study to reveal the sanctioning of engagement bait on smoking cessation support Facebook posts. “Engagement bait” content has a lower ranking on the Facebook Fans’ Newsfeed page. Nevertheless, alternative techniques can circumvent the restrictions on engagement bait. At the same time, alternative techniques can stimulate the click rate and inhibit the rate of negative interactions.

Keywords: social media; Facebook; engagement; Facebook reaction; public health; mental health; health communication; smoker; smoking; smoking cessation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/958/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/958/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:958-:d:1025585

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().