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Opinion leadership is leadership by an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lower-end media users. Typically opinion leaders are held in high esteem by those who accept their
opinion An opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive, rather than facts, which are true statements. Definition A given opinion may deal with subjective matters in which there is no conclusive finding, or it may deal with f ...
s. Opinion leadership comes from the theory of
two-step flow of communication The two-step flow of communication model says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. In contrast to the one-step flow of the hypodermic needle model or magic bull ...
propounded by
Paul Lazarsfeld Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (February 13, 1901August 30, 1976) was an Austrian-American sociologist. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organization of social rese ...
and
Elihu Katz Elihu Katz (Hebrew: אליהוא כ"ץ, 21 May 1926 – 31 December 2021) was an American and Israeli sociologist and communication scientist, usually associated with uses and gratifications theory. He is known for his work with Paul Lazarsfel ...
. Significant developers of the opinion leader concept have been Robert K. Merton,
C. Wright Mills Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962. Mills published widely in both popular and intellectual journals, and i ...
and
Bernard Berelson Bernard Reuben Berelson (1912–1979) was an American behavioral scientist, known for his work on communication and mass media. He was a leading proponent of the broad idea of the "behavioral sciences", a field he saw as including areas such a ...
. This theory is one of several models that try to explain the diffusion of innovations, ideas, or commercial products. Opinion leaders play an important role in information flow, because we tend to seek advice from others in the social environment. Information from the
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...
does not directly flow to the target audiences, but through a mediation process, in which influential people digest the information and spread it to the public. Opinion leaders have certain characteristics that make them influential in the decision-making process and the behavior of the public. Through knowledge sharing, opinion leaders may help others do jobs better, facilitate personal development and improve personal recognition. According to Yufu Kuwashima, an opinion leader’s power and influence come from the network their followers create. Dedicated supporters reinforce the leader’s messaging to other media consumers, strengthening their influence. If one were to remove the opinion leader there would still be a network of connected users that could share ideas with one another. An opinion leader has constructed this network, but the ability to influence others lies in the network itself. In order to effectively influence the opinion of followers, they must find the leader to be above them.


Types

Merton distinguishes two types of opinion leadership: monomorphic and polymorphic. Typically, opinion leadership is viewed as a monomorphic, domain-specific measure of individual differences, that is, a person that is an opinion leader in one field may be a follower in another field. An example of a monomorphic opinion leader in the field of computer technology, might be a neighborhood computer service technician. The technician has access to far more information on this topic than the average consumer and has the requisite background to understand the information, though the same person might be a follower at another field (for example
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, t ...
) and ask others for advice. In contrast, polymorphic opinion leaders are able to influence others in a broad range of domains. Variants of polymorphic opinion leadership include market mavenism, personality strength and generalized opinion leadership. So far, there is little consensus as to the degree these concepts operationalize the same or simply related constructs.


Characteristics

In his article "The Two Step Flow of Communication",
Elihu Katz Elihu Katz (Hebrew: אליהוא כ"ץ, 21 May 1926 – 31 December 2021) was an American and Israeli sociologist and communication scientist, usually associated with uses and gratifications theory. He is known for his work with Paul Lazarsfel ...
, found opinion leaders to have more influence on people's opinions, actions, and behaviors than the media. Opinion leaders are seen to have more influence than the media for a number of reasons. Opinion leaders are seen as trustworthy and non-purposive. People do not feel they are being tricked into thinking a certain way about something if they get information from someone they know. However, the media can be seen as forcing a concept on the public and therefore will be less influential. While the media can act as a reinforcing agent, opinion leaders have a more changing or determining role in an individual's opinion or action. This does not mean that opinion leaders can be always easily used by external agents to promote what they want to promote. Influential individuals might not be willing to change their behavior and may even lose their opinion leader status, if they do.


Factors for leadership

In his article,
Elihu Katz Elihu Katz (Hebrew: אליהוא כ"ץ, 21 May 1926 – 31 December 2021) was an American and Israeli sociologist and communication scientist, usually associated with uses and gratifications theory. He is known for his work with Paul Lazarsfel ...
answers the question, "Who is an opinion leader?" One or more of these factors make noteworthy opinion leaders: # expression of values; # professional competence; # nature of their
social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
. There are personal characteristics that make up an opinion leader. Opinion leaders are individuals who obtain more
media coverage Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
than others and are especially educated on a certain issue. Opinion leaders that utilize social media are more likely to be introverted. Introverts don't receive as much interpersonal interaction offline. They can compensate by creating a controllable network of followers to interact with and gain recognition from in a social context. Opinion leaders seek the acceptance of others and are especially motivated to enhance their social status. Public individualism is the idea that an individual will act different from others because they are different. Kenny K. Chan and Shekhar Misra found opinion leaders possess this trait. “The individuation process and this personal-influence process both involve a reciprocal interchange which involve a willingness to stand out in a group situation." An opinion leader’s willingness to stand out is what sets them apart from their followers. In the jargon of
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
, they are called
thought leader A thought leader has been described as an individual or firm recognized as an authority in a specific field and also as business jargon. Meanings Go-to expert From the perspective of a thought leader as the 'go-to expert', being a thought leader ...
s. Research has also found that opinion leaders tend to be boundary spanners. In relation to their followers, opinion leaders maintain a particular degree of separation in terms of socio-economic status. According to Gershon Feder and Sara Savastano, it is not effective for leaders to be a part of the same socio-economic status as followers. “opinion leaders who are superior to followers, but not excessively so, are more effective in transmitting knowledge.” Meanwhile the leader must be close enough in standing to relate to the followers they want to influence.


Examples

In a strategic attempt to engage the public in environmental issues and his nonprofit,
The Climate Project The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cl ...
,
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic nom ...
used the concept of opinion leaders. Gore found opinion leaders by recruiting individuals who were educated on environmental issues and saw themselves as influential in their community and amongst their friends and family. From there, he trained the opinion leaders on the information he wanted them to spread and enabled them to influence their communities. By using opinion leaders, Gore was able to educate and influence many Americans to take notice of climate change and change their actions.
Matthew Nisbet Matthew C. Nisbet is a professor of Communications and Public Policy at Northeastern University. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of ''Environmental Communication'' and Senior Editor of the ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication''. ...
describes the use of opinion leaders as intermediaries between scientists and the public as a way to reach the public via trained individuals who are more closely engaged with their communities, such as "teachers, business leaders, attorneys, policymakers, neighborhood leaders, students, and media professionals." Examples of initiatives that take this approach include Science & Engineering Ambassadors, sponsored by the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...
, and Science Booster Clubs, coordinated by the
National Center for Science Education The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of controversies surrounding t ...
.


See also

*
Consumer behaviour Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and ...
*
Influencer marketing Influencer marketing (also known as influence marketing) is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influe ...
*
Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...
*
Public opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...


References


Further reading

*Keller E. B., Berry J. (2003). ''The Influentials'', New York, Free Press. * * * * Simulates the development of opinion-leadership in communities of nurses, e.g. with regard to adaptation of new healthcare technologies. Based on normative models such as
Bayesian epistemology Bayesian epistemology is a formal approach to various topics in epistemology that has its roots in Thomas Bayes' work in the field of probability theory. One advantage of its formal method in contrast to traditional epistemology is that its concep ...
and Organization of Cognitive Labor. *Karim Grissa (2016)
"What Makes Opinion Leaders Sharing Brand Content on Networking Sites (LinkedIn, Viadeo, Xing…)"
in ''Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Digital Economy'', Carthage < doi:10.1109/ICDEC.2016.7563139]


External links


Developing Win-Win Key Opinion Leader Relationships
Pharma Marketing News, Vol. 2, #10; Reprint #210-01. *Bodendorf, F., Kaiser, C. (2009).
Detecting opinion leaders and trends in online social networks
. 2nd ACM workshop on Social web search and mining. {{Interwiki extra, qid=Q6080501 Memetics Consumer behaviour Mass media theories Public opinion Attitude change