Engaging End Users to Inform the Design and Social Marketing Strategy for a Web-Based Sexually Transmitted...

The rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to rise across Australia among 16- to 29-year-olds. Timely testing is needed to reduce transmission, but sexual health clinics are at capacity. This demand, coupled with barriers to getting tested faced by young people, has led to web-based services as a pragmatic solution. However, for young people to use these services, they must be acceptable, attractive, and usable. Social marketing principles combined with end user engagement can be used to guide the development of a web-based service and create a marketing strategy to attract them to the service.

Working closely with end users and guided by social marketing, this project explored messaging, design elements (imagery), and promotional strategies that will support high usage of a web-based STI/blood-borne virus (BBV) testing service for young people in Victoria, Australia.

Young people were recruited to participate in half-day workshops via youth organizations and targeted Meta (Facebook/Instagram) advertisements. An initial web-based survey was deployed to inform workshop content. Workshops were held in metropolitan, outer metropolitan, and regional Victoria. Young people were presented with a range of "image territories" developed by a social marketing firm and social marketing messages that were informed by the literature on communicating health messages. Participants discussed the feelings and reactions evoked by the content. Data collected through mixed methods (transcribed notes, audio recording, and physical outputs) were thematically analyzed to understand features of messaging and imagery that would attract young people to use the service.

A total of 45 people completed the initial survey with 17 participating in focus group workshops (metropolitan: n=8, outer metropolitan: n=6, and regional: n=3). Young people preferred messages that highlight the functional benefits (confidential, affordable, and accessible) of a web-based service and include professional imagery and logos that elicit trust. Young people indicated that the service should be promoted through digital communications (eg, dating apps and social media), with endorsement from government or other recognized institutions, and via word-of-mouth communications.

This study has highlighted the value of applying social marketing theory with end user engagement in developing a web-based STI/BBV testing service. Through the voices of young people, we have established the foundations to inform the design and marketing for Victoria's first publicly funded web-based STI/BBV testing clinic. Future research will measure the reach and efficacy of social marketing, and how this service complements existing services in increasing STI/BBV testing uptake among young Victorians.