Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jul 16, 2025
Date Accepted: Oct 22, 2025
HPV Vaccine Perceptions Among Non-College Young Adults and TikTok Influencers: A Qualitative Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Reaching young adults who are not enrolled in 4-year university degree programs and are not yet vaccinated for HPV has proven to be a challenge for public health messengers. Meanwhile, TikTok has become one of the most used social media apps for young adults, with 41% of its userbase ages 16-24.
Objective:
Public health researchers conducted an exploration of young adults and TikTok influencers' perceptions of receiving and/or sharing HPV vaccine-related information on TikTok.
Methods:
The team recruited non-college young adults for 5 different focus groups stratified by gender and vaccination status, each of which had 5-8 participants, for a total of 34 participants. Participants who said they were extremely hesitant about the HPV vaccine were excluded. Additionally, a diverse range of 9 TikTok influencers who reached young adults ages 18-25 were recruited to participate in individual interviews.
Results:
Many young adults stated that they do seek or passively see health information online, and some said that TikTok was a primary place for them to get or verify health information. Very few participants stated that they had seen any content about HPV or the HPV vaccine on TikTok, but many said that they would be interested in that if they did, especially if it felt organic to the messenger, and had relevant and clear facts about the vaccine. Most influencers said they felt a close connection to their followers and described having meaningful conversations with them. Influencers said they would post about HPV or the vaccine if there was a campaign or partnership involved, if they had a personal connection to the issue, or if they could find a way to relate it to their existing content.
Conclusions:
TikTok could be a viable and effective channel to reach non-college young adults about HPV vaccination. The unique close and trusting relationships that TikTok influencers have with their audiences may be more useful in addressing a topic like HPV vaccination than traditional media sources.
Citation
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