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Article: Use of Internet Viral Marketing to Promote Smoke-free Lifestyles among Chinese Adolescents

TitleUse of Internet Viral Marketing to Promote Smoke-free Lifestyles among Chinese Adolescents
Authors
Issue Date2014
PublisherPublic Library of Science. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.plosone.org/home.action
Citation
PLoS One, 2014, v. 9 n. 6, article no. e99082 How to Cite?
AbstractPURPOSE: Youth smoking is a global public health concern. Health educators are increasingly using Internet-based technologies, but the effectiveness of Internet viral marketing in promoting health remains uncertain. This prospective pilot study assessed the efficacy of an online game-based viral marketing campaign in promoting a smoke-free attitude among Chinese adolescents. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-one Hong Kong Chinese adolescents aged 10 to 24 were invited to participate in an online multiple-choice quiz game competition designed to deliver tobacco-related health information. Participants were encouraged to refer others to join. A zero-inflated negative binomial model was used to explore the factors contributing to the referral process. Latent transition analysis utilising a pre- and post-game survey was used to detect attitudinal changes toward smoking. RESULTS: The number of participants increased almost eightfold from 121 to 928 (34.6% current or ex-smokers) during the 22-day campaign. Participants exhibited significant attitudinal change, with 73% holding negative attitudes toward smoking after the campaign compared to 57% before it. The transition probabilities from positive to negative and neutral to negative attitudes were 0.52 and 0.48, respectively. It was also found that attempting every 20 quiz questions was associated with lower perceived smoking decision in future (OR = 0.95, p-value <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our online game-based viral marketing programme was effective in reaching a large number of smoking and non-smoking participants and changing their attitudes toward smoking. It constitutes a promising practical and cost-effective model for engaging young smokers and promulgating smoking-related health information among Chinese adolescents.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/197897
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 2.9
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.839
PubMed Central ID
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorIp, Pen_US
dc.contributor.authorLam, THen_US
dc.contributor.authorChan, SSCen_US
dc.contributor.authorHo, FKWen_US
dc.contributor.authorLo, LAen_US
dc.contributor.authorChiu, IWSen_US
dc.contributor.authorWong, WHSen_US
dc.contributor.authorChow, CBen_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-02T15:25:18Z-
dc.date.available2014-06-02T15:25:18Z-
dc.date.issued2014en_US
dc.identifier.citationPLoS One, 2014, v. 9 n. 6, article no. e99082en_US
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/197897-
dc.description.abstractPURPOSE: Youth smoking is a global public health concern. Health educators are increasingly using Internet-based technologies, but the effectiveness of Internet viral marketing in promoting health remains uncertain. This prospective pilot study assessed the efficacy of an online game-based viral marketing campaign in promoting a smoke-free attitude among Chinese adolescents. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-one Hong Kong Chinese adolescents aged 10 to 24 were invited to participate in an online multiple-choice quiz game competition designed to deliver tobacco-related health information. Participants were encouraged to refer others to join. A zero-inflated negative binomial model was used to explore the factors contributing to the referral process. Latent transition analysis utilising a pre- and post-game survey was used to detect attitudinal changes toward smoking. RESULTS: The number of participants increased almost eightfold from 121 to 928 (34.6% current or ex-smokers) during the 22-day campaign. Participants exhibited significant attitudinal change, with 73% holding negative attitudes toward smoking after the campaign compared to 57% before it. The transition probabilities from positive to negative and neutral to negative attitudes were 0.52 and 0.48, respectively. It was also found that attempting every 20 quiz questions was associated with lower perceived smoking decision in future (OR = 0.95, p-value <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our online game-based viral marketing programme was effective in reaching a large number of smoking and non-smoking participants and changing their attitudes toward smoking. It constitutes a promising practical and cost-effective model for engaging young smokers and promulgating smoking-related health information among Chinese adolescents.-
dc.languageengen_US
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.plosone.org/home.actionen_US
dc.relation.ispartofPLoS ONEen_US
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.titleUse of Internet Viral Marketing to Promote Smoke-free Lifestyles among Chinese Adolescentsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.identifier.emailIp, P: patricip@hku.hken_US
dc.identifier.emailLam, TH: hrmrlth@hkucc.hku.hken_US
dc.identifier.emailChan, SSC: nssophia@hkucc.hku.hken_US
dc.identifier.emailChiu, IWS: iwschiu@hku.hken_US
dc.identifier.emailWong, WHS: whswong@hku.hken_US
dc.identifier.emailChow, CB: chowcb@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.authorityIp, P=rp01337en_US
dc.identifier.authorityLam, TH=rp00326en_US
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0099082-
dc.identifier.pmid24911010-
dc.identifier.pmcidPMC4049615-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-84902578869-
dc.identifier.hkuros229036en_US
dc.identifier.volume9-
dc.identifier.issue6-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000337165600040-
dc.publisher.placeUnited Statesen_US
dc.identifier.issnl1932-6203-

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