The effectiveness of public health advertisements to promote health: a randomized-controlled trial on 794,000 participants.

ABSTRACT: As public health advertisements move online, it becomes possible to run inexpensive randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) thereof. Here we report the results of an online RCT to improve food choices and integrate exercise into daily activities of internet users. People searching for pre-specified terms were randomized to receive one of several professionally developed campaign advertisements or the "status quo" (ads that would otherwise have been served). For 1-month pre-intervention and post-intervention, their searches for health-promoting goods or services were recorded. Our results show that 48% of people who were exposed to the ads made future searches for weight loss information, compared with 32% of those in the control group-a 50% increase. The advertisements varied in efficacy. Howe

SUBMITTER: Yom-Tov E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6550260 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature