“Our Community Comes First”: Investigating Recruitment Ads That Represent and Appeal to Black Women for Online, HIV-Related Research Studies

Background Black women are underrepresented in health-related research. Consulting Black women in the creation of recruitment materials may help increase their representation in research studies, but few of these recruitment materials have been evaluated. This manuscript reports on the impact of two ads (one featuring older women and one featuring younger women) created through multiple focus group sessions with Black women. The purpose of the ads were to recruit Black women to participate in an online research study about HIV prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis, PrEP. Materials and Methods Questions about the ads were embedded in the eligibility screener for inclusion in the online parent research study. Respondents were asked which ad they saw, what they liked about it, and what about the ad piqued their interest in the study. Results In total, 301 Black women completed the eligibility screener for the online study and answered questions pertaining to the two ads. Most participants reported seeing the ad with younger women (260/301, 86.4%). Representation of Black women ( n = 70), ad design ( n = 64), relevance to Black women and the Black community ( n = 60), and comprehensiveness of ad content ( n = 38) were the top 4 ad features respondents liked. Relevance to Black women and the Black community ( n = 104) as well as ad content ( n = 54) (i.e., study purpose, location, duration, images, incentive) were the top two reasons provided about ads that piqued respondent’s interest in the online study. Conclusion Findings showcase how recruitment ads informed by Black women could help increase their interest and participation in research.