Table 2 Exemplary Quotes on Intervention Acceptability among Latinx Sexual Minority Men (n = 26) and Latinx Transgender Women (n = 15)

Intervention Coherence

Understanding of the Intervention

“I would just say it’s like a course. It’s just like a few minutes a week just to gain an understanding of HIV.” (Active, Information Only)

“It’s a very professional study targeting...LGBT in general but definitely trans group and assisting us with prevention methods.” (Active, Information Only)

Lack of Understanding of the Intervention

“They told me it was going to be a one-time thing.” (Inactive)

“I don’t remember receiving any information about what it was about.” (Inactive)

Affective Attitude

General Appreciation of the Information Received

“I loved how specific it was, and you guys didn’t just cater to gay sexuality either. You also talked about if you have sex with women, the vaginal fluids, and all that fun stuff – fun stuff, I guess. Yeah, you guys didn’t shy away from the topic. You approached it in a very adult manner, and I hope that people could grasp on that.” (Active, Information)

“I think that topics were very relevant and very helpful…For instance dealing with anal sex, dealing with preventative measures like PrEP, condom use.” (Active, Information Only)

Self-Efficacy

Appreciation for Quiz Component

“Everything was great. I liked it because it was like a game and I would get prizes and I would learn so everything seemed really good to me.” (Active, Information Plus)

“I liked it. The truth is I really liked it.” (Active, Information Plus)

Lack of Understanding about Chances of Winning

“I really didn’t think I’d win anything. But I did get the gift card that was really, really nice.” (Active, Information Plus)

“Oh, well, the truth is I really don’t know how many people participate...If I knew how many there were, I would say, oh, I have a chance of winning.” (Active, Information Plus)

Issues with Quiz Questions

“As for the questions, I did think that there were certain very specific questions where they were hard to answer. It could’ve been a yes or no. They weren’t worded properly.” (Active, Information Plus)

Use of Links

“Sometimes I [used the links] when I didn’t understand what the message was getting at.” (Active, Information Only)

“I would lie to you if I said that I always [used the links]. When I didn’t know the answer, I would click the link and learn a little more.” (Active, Information Plus)

Perceived Effectiveness

Increased Knowledge of HIV

“We think we know how you can actually protect yourself, and we think we know how you can help prevent it, but it’s not until you actually get exposed to the right information and you see cases. So, for me, I am grateful that I came across it simply because I feel more knowledgeable about it and better prepared.” (Active, Information Only)

“In general it helped me a lot to understand what this is, to understand that there are treatments out there, that perhaps the illness perhaps we might unfortunately might have it and it’s not the end of the world, there are treatments and things that help people have a normal life.” (Active, Information Plus)

Continuation of Regular HIV Testing

“It helped me because I still do it. Even though I don’t get the messages now, it’s just like something that I learned. I do it now.” (Active, Information Only)

“You never know about the diseases and all that. And it’s very good because at least I get it almost every 3 months because you never know if you’re going to get the disease.” (Active, Information Only)

Change in Sexual Behavior

“It actually improved because I was able to feel more comfortable about it and be able to have a better relationship. So, it definitely impacted me in a positive way with my partner.” (Active, Information Only)

“You never think about what you are going to do. You just do it, and if something you are going to do comes to your mind, then you are going to be careful…remembering everything you have learned.” (Active, Information Only)

PrEP

“I had some knowledge, but really it was the program that gave me all this information.” (Active, Information Only)

“You learn that if you put yourself on PrEP, being in PrEP doesn’t mean that you’re not going to get HIV. You can get another disease, then everything has its consequences, and everything has its ups and downs.” (Active, Information Plus)

Burden

Minimal Effort

“[It took] like 2 minutes of my day. Well, I remember like getting every Thursday and Friday, but it was a quick simple thing.” (Active, Information Plus)

“[The effort] was minimal, and it was very convenient. Reading a text message takes less than 30 s.” (Active, Information Only)

Ethicality

Cultural Appropriateness of MOTIVES

Appropriate for LSMM: “The culture you have is very adequate, very adequate, they respect us, and I would also recommend it and I think that for other people, I mean, for other gay men, this is very good.” (Active, Information Plus)

Appropriate for LTGW: “It’s great that you have someone who worries about people like us...We live everyday just as it comes, and we don’t have any awareness about what is going on around us. We worry more about other things, about what a normal day is going to be like, perhaps, knowing that there are people that don’t accept us. So, we don’t worry about what’s inside or what’s more important, which is your health. And our physical health. So, it’s good that someone is doing something different for people like us.” (Active, Information Plus)

Level of Comfort with Text Messages

“Even one of my friends took my phone and saw that I put it under Motives HIV for a contact name. And he said, what, what’s going on with you. I was like, no, it’s absolutely fine. I explained the research program. And he went, ‘oh, okay, well that’s interesting.’” (Active, Information Plus)

“Even if anybody would have read my text messages, which is not great, it wouldn’t have bothered me.” (Active, Information Only)

Opportunity Costs

Appreciation of Gift Cards

“I thought it was a great gift. Yeah. It’s definitely something worth taking.” (Active, Information Only)

“Well, I feel really good, I feel happy because it’s like a reward, you see, for our time.” (Active, Information Plus)

No Need for the Gift Cards

“About the money I say I wouldn’t need to get it because I tell you, I like to go to that Bienestar program. I like to be informed about all this about HIV, the drugs, the treatments, all that. I even thought they were talking to me to find out more about PrEP and PEP.” (Active, Information Only)

“I think the people who participate are interested in the information they give. And I participated for that, for the information, not so much for other reasons.” (Inactive)