Previously submitted to: JMIR Dermatology (no longer under consideration since Apr 23, 2021)
Date Submitted: Apr 29, 2020
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 29, 2020 - May 11, 2020
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An advertising campaign’s impact on public awareness of vitiligo: a Google-Trends® analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
The internet has changed the world. Meanwhile, internet searches themselves are now also being used a scientific tool. Recently, a famous European fashion brand (Desigual®) published as publicity, the photograph of a young model with vitiligo.
Objective:
To study the impact of the public display of such a rare disease on related internet searches.
Methods:
To do this, we investigated the Google Trends according to previously recommended methods. We compared the number of internet searches using the word ‘’vitiligo’’ and the model’s name, before and after the publication of this picture. Google Trends gives the frequency of such requests on a scale from 0 to 100, 100 corresponding to the maximum number of requests during the period of interest. A six year period was studied; three years before and three years after the campaign (i.e. 2013 September 1st).
Results:
The median frequency of searches for ‘’vitiligo’’ according to Google Trends, worldwide, was 52 (46-61) during the reference period. After the campaign, the median number of internet requests significantly increased to 70 (59-79) (p<0.0001). Seasonal variability was observed in both periods. During the same periods, the median number of internet searches based on the name of the model significantly increased, from 0 (0-0) to 24 (15-31) (p<0,0001).
Conclusions:
This advertising campaign featuring a model with vitiligo seems to have been associated with a significant increase in internet searches for this condition. Such campaigns could indeed help to incidentally ‘’popularize’’ such skin disorders, with better public understanding contributing to an improvement in patients’ quality of life. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
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