Framing Fertility: The Use of Rhetorical Appeals in Natural Cycles’ Sponsored Content on Instagram

Fertility apps, which help users track their menstrual cycles, are growing in popularity. To better understand how these fertility apps communicate to consumers, we consider rhetorical appeals made within influencer-based marketing of a popular fertility app, Natural Cycles, on Instagram. The results of a quantitative content analysis (499 sponsored posts, 371 influencer profiles, 2019–2024) indicate that most posts (84.9%) used appeals to credibility, emotion, and logic. Further, influencers often connected appeals to nature with fears related to hormonal birth control use. These findings hold important implications for healthcare authorities, providers, and advocates with a stake in public health communications.