Abstract

Using Neuromarketing as a Participatory Research Method to Evaluate COVID-19 Vaccine Messaging for Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Angela Makris, MPH¹, Samantha Boddupalli, MPH¹, Vijay Prajapati, MPH¹, Rheese McNab², Yuqi Wang³, Claudia Parvanta , PhD² (1)University of South Florida, College of Public Health, (2)University of South Florida, College of Public Health , (3)University of South Florida, Muma College of Business

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background: People with developmental disabilities (PWDD) are significantly underrepresented in health communications research. The National Covid-19 Resiliency Network (NCRN) identified PWDD as a priority population for COVID-19 vaccine messaging.

Methods: Working in close collaboration with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), an NCRN partner agency conducted remote focus groups with PWDD and created print advertisements on the theme of vaccination. As the pre-testing partner, the University of South Florida (USF) modified all procedures (recruitment, consent, study design) to enable PWDD to provide feedback on draft print ads. Using iMotions, participants’ eye movements and facial expressions were recorded while they viewed ads and responded to multiple choice and open-ended questions. The study was piloted at the USF Learning Academy and disseminated (between December 2021 and March 2022) through the AUCD network for remote completion. The final sample included 17 respondents who were PWDD between 18 and 25 years old.
Results: Areas in the print ads that received the most attention were identified. In open-ended questions, respondents indicated their preference for “real people with disabilities in the advertisements (in contrast to drawings) accompanied by detailed information about COVID-19 vaccination. As PWDD were not included in the facial expressions data base used by the software, facial expression data were considered less valid.

Conclusions: In this study, eye tracking was an effective participatory research tool to increase the participation of PWDD in message testing. It shows what images and words are considered important as respondents provide subjective responses.