Introduction
deaths
More than 7 million yearly deaths are attributed to smoking globally, including 480 000 deaths in the US.The promise of big data analytics for behavioral science has been recognized.Currently, viral peer marketing (ie, providing participants with a tool kit to recruit friends or family members) is a preferred method for finding new research participants for online studies given that potential new recruits are more likely to trust a referral from a friend.Our pilot data suggested that viral peer marketing and recommender system functions could synergistically affect each other to improve the reach and effectiveness of our intervention. Although the primary function of the viral peer marketing (viral tool kit) is to increase the reach, it may lead to increased smoking cessation, with the peer recruiter serving as a positive role model to those recruited.