Efficacy of Web-based Online Social Network Interventions to Increase Physical Activity

To identify the efficacy of web-based online social network interventions to increase physical activity, two field experiments were conducted at a large Northeastern university in Philadelphia, PA. In the first RCT, ۲۱۷ graduate students were randomized to three conditions: a control condition with a basic online program for enrolling in exercise classes for ۱۳ weeks, a media condition that supplemented the basic program with online promotional media messages that encourage physical activity, and a socialcondition that replaced the media content with an online network of ۴ to ۶ anonymous peers composed of other participants of the program, in which each participant was able to see their online peers’ progress in enrolling in classes. The primary outcome was exercise class enrollment. The study revealed that compared with the control condition, the media condition did not significantly increase participants’ exercise class enrollment, while online networks of the social condition significantly increased exercise class enrollment. In the second RCT, using the same program structure, ۷۹۰ graduate students were randomized to four conditions comparing the effects of competitive interactions versus supportive interactions and individual versus team incentives in increasing exercise class attendance (i.e., control, social comparison, social support, and combined). The primary outcome was exercise class attendance. The control condition, also the individual alone condition, was used to enroll in exercise classes. The social comparison condition placed participants into ۶-person competitive networks with individual incentives. The social support condition placed participants onto ۶-person teams with collective incentives. Participants could interact with and encourage team members. The combined condition was identical to the support condition, except that participants could compare their team’s performance to ۵ other teams’ performances. Results showed attendance rates were ۸۵% higher in the social comparison and the combined conditions in contrast to the two conditions without social comparison. The social support condition did not affect attendance as compared with the control condition. Social comparison was more effective for increasing class attendance than social support. Social comparison effects were equally strong regardless of whether it was based on individual or collective incentives. These two studies demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of online social network interventions deployed through websites tailored to specific research questions.

کلیدواژه ها:

social network ، Web Base online ، RCT ، Physical Activity