Marketing the "Sex Check": Evaluating Recruitment Strategies for a Telephone-Based HIV Prevention Project for Gay and Bisexual Men

• Published in: AIDS education and prevention 2006-04, Vol.18 (2), p.116-131
• Main Authors: McKee, Michael B, Picciano, Joseph F, Roffman, Roger A, Swanson, Fred, Kalichman, Seth C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS); Adolescent; Adult; Advertising; Age Distribution; Alcohol Abuse; Barriers; Biological and medical sciences; Bisexuality; Bisexuality - statistics & numerical data; Communication (Thought Transfer); Comorbidity; Compensation (Remuneration); Consultants; Continental Population Groups - statistics & numerical data; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Costs; Cultural Relevance; Development programmes; Drug Use; Educational Status; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Ethnicity; Family (Sociological Unit); Focus Groups; Friendship; Gays & lesbians; Health Education; Health promotion; Health Services; HIV; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV Seropositivity - epidemiology; Homosexuality; Homosexuality, Male - statistics & numerical data; Homosexuals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infectious diseases; Male; Males; Marketing; Marketing of Health Services - economics; Marketing of Health Services - methods; Marketing of Health Services - statistics & numerical data; Medical sciences; Motivation; Negative Attitudes; Patient Selection; Prevention; Prevention programs; Primary Prevention - economics; Primary Prevention - methods; Public Health; Publicity; Randomized Controlled Trials; Recruitment; Referral; Resource Allocation; Risk-Taking; Safe Sex - statistics & numerical data; Sexual behavior; Sexual Orientation; Sexuality; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social Programs; STD; Strategies; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Success; Telemedicine - economics; Telemedicine - methods; Telemedicine - statistics & numerical data; Telephone Communications; U.S.A; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; Washington - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0899-9546; 1943-2755
• DOI: 10.1521/aeap.2006.18.2.116

Designing effective marketing and recruitment strategies for HIV prevention research requires attention to cultural relevance, logistical barriers, and perceived psychosocial barriers to accessing services. McGuire's communication/persuasion matrix (1985) guided our evaluation, with particular attention to success of each marketing "channel" (i.e., strategy) vis-a-vis the number of all callers, eligible callers, and enrolled callers, as well as reaching so-called "hard-to-serve" individuals. Nearly all channels offered success in reaching specific subgroups. Latinos responded favorably to posters, bisexuals responded favorably to paid media in an alternative (non-gay) publication, and precontemplators responded to referrals by family and friends. Although multiple recruitment strategies were used, three were crucial to the success of the project: (a) recruiters' presence in gay venues, (b) referrals by family and friends (snowball technique), and (c) paid advertisements in alternative (non-gay) local newspapers. Resource allocation and costs are also presented for each channel. (Contains 4 tables.)