Celebrity Influence? An Observational Study of Consumer Responses on Social Media and on an Internet Search Engine to News of Angelina Jolie's Prophylactic Mastectomies

Abstract

We sought to explore US individuals’ internet and social media behavior before and after Ms. Angeline Jolie’s disclosure of her BRCA status and prophylactic surgery. All US individuals using Google’s search engine to search for keywords ‘double mastectomy,’ ‘breast cancer,’ or ‘BRCA gene’ between April 21 and May 20, 2013, and all US individuals mentioning keywords on Twitter, blogs and online forums between February 21 through July 20, 2013 were captured. We performed a descriptive analysis of relative daily number of Google searches for keywords and absolute daily mentions on social media of keywords. Google searches for and social media mentions of keywords were immediately but transiently elevated in the several days following Ms. Jolie’s article. Celebrity news can impact individuals for health behavior. Despite apparent transient elevation of US consumer interest in relevant keywords, it is not yet known whether utilization of BRCA gene testing and/or prophylactic surgery will change.

Keywords: Patient decision‐making, media influence, celebrity influence, breast cancer, BRCA gene testing, prophylactic mastectomy