Application of the Analytical Hierarchical Process in the digital communication of public agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: This research analyses the digital communication carried out by 21 public health institutions on the Twitter platform during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on examining the criteria for the success of communication strategies on this digital social network and their weighted weight in the proposed model. Methodology: the data was recorded using the open- access application Twitonomy, which analyses the last 3,200 Tweets from each profile. The analysis of the information is carried out by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a method for multi-criteria decision-making. Using Expert Choice software, 17 criteria corresponding to the account activity and impact clusters are studied. Results: The most appropriate alternative in the field of public health communication in social networks and the weight of the criteria that benefit this communication on the Twitter platform is determined. Discussion and Conclusions: This study confirms that it is advisable for decision-makers in digital communication to bear in mind that the impact cluster has a greater weight on the Twitter social network than account activity.