Introduction

Opinion leadership is leadership by an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or
content for lower-end media users. Opinion leadership is defined as the process in which one person
influences the attitudes or actions of other person informally, who may be identified as opinion leader. They
offer informal advice about the product or service. Opinion leaders are part of the social groups. Typically the
opinion leader is held in high esteem by those who accept their opinions. They have social communication
network, both informal and interpersonal in nature which happens between those who are not associated with
the commercial selling source directly Market researchers identify opinion leaders by such methods as self
designation, key informants, the sociometric method and the objective method

Characteristics of Opinion Leaders

Opinion leadership is a dynamic process. It is the most powerful consumer force. As informal communication
sources, it effectively influences consumers in their product related decisions. The dynamics of the opinion
leadership may be discussed under the following headings:

 Credible source of information,

 Provision of both positive and negative product information,
 Source of information and advice,
 Two-way street,
 Specific characteristics.

1. Credible Source: Opinion leaders are knowledgeable. Their advice about a product or service is
considered reliable. As opinion leaders are informal sources of information,.

2. Provision of Both Positive and Negative Product Information: Opinion leaders are not directly
associated with marketers. So therefore they provide both favourable and unfavourable information
about the product. So, opinion seekers have faith in opinion leaders.

3. Sources of Information and Advice: Opinion leaders are the source of both information and advice
as they simply share their experience about a product or service. Their talk is related to what they
know about a product
 4. Two-way Street: Opinion leaders in one product related situation become opinion receivers in
another situation even for the same product. For example a person bought the car taking the advice of
his friend. Now he can advice favourably or unfavourably about the car to someone else. In the first
instance, he is an opinion receiver and in the second he is an opinion leader.

5. Specific Characteristics: Opinion leaders possess distinct personality traits. These include self
confidence and gregariousness. They are socially inclined, outspoken and are knowledgeable

Types of Opinion leadership

There are two types of opinion leadership- monomorphic and polymorphic:

Monomorphic
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 neighbourhood
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) and ask others for advice.

Polymorphic
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
Diffusion Theory an approach used in opinion leadership

Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over a period of
time among the members of a social system
.
An innovation is “an idea, practice, or object that is perceived to be new by an individual or other unit of
adoption”.

“Communication is a process in which participants create and share information with one another to reach a
mutual understanding” (E.M.Rogers, 1995). The information flows through networks. The nature of networks
and the roles opinion leaders play in them determine the likelihood that the innovation will be adopted.
Innovation diffusion research has attempted to explain the variables that influence how and why users adopt a
new information medium, such as the Internet Opinion leaders exert influence on audience behavior via their
personal contact, but additional intermediaries called change agents and gatekeepers are also included in the
process of diffusion. Five adopter categories are:
(1) Innovators very, little innovators adopt the innovation in the beginning (2,5%)
(2) Early adopters, early adopters making up for 13,5% a short time later
(3) Early majority, the early majority 34%
(4) Late majority, the late majority 34%
(5) Laggards, laggards make up for 16%

Example
In a strategic attempt to engage the public in environmental issues and his non-profit, The Climate Project, Al
Gore 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.