Beat the beam: an applied research study on sunscreen usage habits amongst young adults in Singapore

Abstract

Beat The Beam is an applied communications research project aimed at addressing the fight against skin cancer through the use of sunscreen. Our project aims to develop effective strategies for promoting the usage of sunscreen as a protective measure against skin cancer in young adults aged 21 to 29 in Singapore. This project examines the efficacy of two campaign strategies: (a) message source and (b) a photoaging Augmented Reality (AR) filter in a digital health campaign.

We first conducted two focus group discussions (n=15) to understand our target audience’s pre-existing practices and attitudes towards sunscreen usage and skin cancer as a whole. We recruited a total of 200 participants for our pilot campaign, which was a two week-long Instagram health campaign using a 2 (organisation versus influencer) x 2 (absence versus presence of photoaging AR filter) between-subject factorial design. Our study design also included a pre-campaign survey before the launch of the pilot campaign, and a post-campaign survey following its conclusion. Some notable key findings were that the influencer who utilised the photoaging AR filter had a higher credibility compared to when she did not, while organisations have a lower credibility when they utilised the filter compared to when they do not. Messages from organisations also increased participants’ knowledge of skin cancer. Finally, this paper also presents suggestions on how future public health campaigns can utilise varying strategies to increase the likelihood of young adults utilising sunscreen as a protective measure against skin cancer.

Keywords: sunscreen usage, skin cancer, photoaging AR filter, Instagram, organisation, influencers, Health Belief Model, public health campaign, health promotion, Singapore