Study of the Diffusion of a Smoking Cessation Application Through an Online Network

Online Social Networks for Dissemination of Smoking Cessation Interventions

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01746472

Enrollment

11413

Registered

2012-12-11

Start date

2012-12-31

Completion date

2014-10-31

Last updated

2016-03-15

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cessation of Smoking, Use and Dissemination of Smoking Cessation Intervention

Brief summary

Effective evidence-based interventions exist for smoking cessation delivered over the Internet, but consumer acceptance and adherence remains low. Scalable and efficient mechanisms to disseminate these interventions online are needed, and existing online social networks provide a potential mechanism. This is a proposal for a randomized, factorial trial of the dissemination of an evidence-based intervention through the massive Facebook social network, with the goal of determining intervention characteristics that drive viral spread.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALFacebook app - condition t

Application components hypothesized to increase the duration (t, time) that a participant spends using the application.

BEHAVIORALFacebook app - condition z

Application components hypothesized to increase the number of friends that a user has that are eligible to install the application.

BEHAVIORALFacebook app - condition B-active

Application components hypothesized to increase the contagiousness of the app by increasing a users ability and desire to proactively contact others.

BEHAVIORALFacebook app - condition B-passive

Application components hypothesized to increase the contagiousness of the app by increasing the passive diffusion of information from the user to their friends.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

FACTORIAL

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Facebook user * Age 18 years or older * Entered UbiQUITous Facebook Application * Confirms smoker status * U.S. resident

Exclusion criteria

* Non-smoker * Under 18 years old * Non-U.S. resident * Non-Facebook advertisement point of entry

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Reproductive rate	30 days	The investigators will measure the reproductive rate for each condition, in other words the average number of additional individuals that install the application for each original individual recruited to participate. Higher reproductive rates indicate more efficient and faster dissemination.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 8, 2026