Perceptions of User-Generated Content as a Source of Health Messages in Smoking Cessation Mobile Interventions: Focus Group Study
User-generated content was deemed an acceptable source of health messages. This content can improve the efficacy and effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions by increasing their pool of unique messages that may be better received and more persuasive than expert-curated content. User-generated content can be used to curate health messages for all medical conditions and behaviors with relevant publicly available online content for integration in behavioral interventions given its high volume, brevity, and narrative-like nature. Future research is needed to investigate the effects of user-generated content on health behaviors and identify the theoretical mechanisms for these effects.
Authors
- T. Ryan Gregory (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3421-7847)
- Sherine El‐Toukhy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0329-5823)
- Brandon Kendrick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5893-7372)
- Lydia Tesfaye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7484-9631)
- Michael Wakeman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3970-6057)
- Erin Leahy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9806-6131)
- Gunnar Baskin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9093-3563)
- Greg Gruse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1600-4164)
Institutions
- Emory University (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (US)
- ICF International (United States) (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JMIR Human Factors
- Published
- 2025-12-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2196/76804
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.54