P3.389 Succesfully Involving Teenagers For Effective Sexual Health Campaigns Through Social Media

Abstract

Dutch youth have extensive knowledge on and a very positive attitude towards safe sex. Over 75% has the intention to maintain condom use with a new partner until both have been tested for an sti. Our next goal was to influence behaviour directly. We provided emotional arguments; a good lover discusses wishes and boundaries with his or her partner. Condom use should be a part of that conversation. The best moment to bring up condom use is right before you take of your pants. We communicated a cue; at this moment you should act this way to adher to the social norm. We needed to be as lively as possible so teenagers could project themselves into these scenarios. We used a social media strategy to co-create them. We co-operated with several niche youth-run online communities. We offered no rewards or prizes to participants other than be taken seriously and have their input being used in a television campaign. We were open, honoust, active and accessible. We reached over 3 million readers, our webvideos were watched over 2 million times. We received over 21.000 handwritten responses and over 60.000 votes on our polls. Interactivity with and between teenagers rose weekly during the campaign. This co-creation led to three tv commercials showing six scenarios and three radio commercials. 91% of our target audience was reached. The resulting campaign was well received (7.3 appreciation, benchmark: 6.8) and very effective: correct message transfer was 98%. We also found a significant behavioural result: The number of youths who reported bringing up the subject of condoms before taking of their pants rose from 56% to 74%.