Background/Purpose: Study recruitment procedures have increasingly included paid advertisements using social media. However, it is unclear which types of message framing will be the most effective for recruitment. The most common types of messages use an altruistic messages (contribute to the study out of a desire to help others) or simple informational message. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of two social media message frames – altruism and empowerment – versus attention-matched control in recruiting participants into the Accelerating Medicines Partnership Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases (AMP AIM) study, a multi-site study focused on rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and psoriasis.

Methods: Between September 2024 and February 2025, we posted three Facebook advertisements to recruit study participants. Ads featured the question “Do you have RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS or PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS?” and used one of three messages: 1) Altruism (“Make a difference by joining the arthritis study!”); 2) Empowerment (“Become a partner. Your voice matters!”); and 3) Attention-matched control (“Consider joining the arthritis study,”). Ads were linked to recruitment websites with matching messages. After pilot testing with altruism ads to focus the scope of impressions, all three ad sets were run concurrently. Facebook users randomly received one of the three ads, but not multiple. Outcomes included impressions (ad views), clicks, engagement (website visitors), and completed submissions. Regression modeling evaluated predictors of completed submissions and website visits. Analyses were conducted using StataSE (version 15).

Results: Over 39 total ad-days (pilot phase=18 days; final phase=21 days, 7 days/ad type), AMP AIM recruitment advertisements collectively generated 1,332,969 views and reached 617,206 unique Facebook users. Across both phases, 13 individuals submitted their information to learn more about the study through the AMP AIM website. Although altruism ads received 7 submissions, the most of any ad group, these submissions were all during the pilot phase. During the final phase when all three ads were run concurrently, all 6 submissions received were from individuals shown the attention-matched control ads – and zero from the altruism or empowerment ads. However, when compared to the attention-matched control ads and after controlling for study phase, regression modelling suggested that both the empowerment and altruism ads received significantly more Facebook impressions (p< .001), more ad clicks (p< .001), and more AMP AIM website visits (p=.017).

Conclusion: Message framing significantly affects attention, engagement, and recruitment. We learned that altruism and empowerment frames increased impressions and clicks but, ultimately, did not improve recruitment. All submissions during the final phase came from attention-matched control ads, suggesting simpler messages may better prompt action. In addition, traditional engagement metrics alone may not fully capture recruitment effectiveness. Additional research to compare these and other message frames among additional subpopulations could help to better inform effective strategies for recruitment.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/message-testing-in-online-recruitment-advertisements-for-a-national-rheumatoid-and-psoriatic-arthritis-study/