Using Diffusion of Innovations Theory to Predict Engagement with Healthy Recipe Posts in Social Media

This article uses Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory to predict audience engagement with healthy recipes from a campaign designed to promote physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption. Across three studies (Study 1 N = 543; Study 2 N = 805; Study 3 N = 300), participants in online surveys viewed one social media post (randomly selected from larger pools) promoting a healthy recipe. After viewing the social media post, participants rated their intention to click on the link, make the recipe, and share the recipe post then rated that recipe on four DOI theory attributes: relative advantage, compatibility with their lifestyle, complexity, and trialability. In each study, Ordinary Least Squares regression was used to examine the relationship between DOI theory attributes and each intention measure. Results consistently demonstrated that a recipe's perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility were significant predictors of intention to click on, make, or share the recipe. Complexity and trialability were rarely significant predictors of intentions. These results can be used to inform both message development and message testing strategies for nutrition-focused campaigns, as nutrition interventions that are seen as being higher in relative advantage and compatibility may be more readily adopted by priority populations.