Consumer behaviour

Definition of Opinion Leadership

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. They have
social communication network. The communication is informal and interpersonal in nature
which happens between those who are not associated with the commercial selling source
directly.

Opinion leaders are individuals or organizations that are able to influence people by their
opinion. They are ones that the opinion receivers consider credible and hold high regard for in
that particular area.

Opinion leaders could be anyone ranging from your friends, family to famous actors, politicians,
websites, CEOs or your favourite tech geeks.

Examples of Opinion Leadership

The role of opinion leadership could be seen in the following examples.

1. During casual talk, a friend talks about the car he recently bought. He recommends buying it.

2. A person shows friend photographs of his recent tour abroad. He suggests that by using a
particular make of camera, better pictures could be shot.

3. A family wants to have a swimming pool in their spacious house. The family head asks
neighbours which pool Construction Company they should call.

4. A parent wants admission for his child in a particular school. He contacts other parents
sending their children to the same school.

Characteristics of Opinion Leaders/ dynamics of opinion leadership

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:

1. Credible source of information,

2. Provision of both positive and negative product information,

3. Source of information and advice,

4. Two-way street,

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5. 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, it is perceived that they give
advice in the best interest of opinion seekers. The first-hand information received from opinion
leaders helps in reducing perceived risks. It properly tackles the anxiety in buying new products
as the opinion is based on the first-hand experience.

2. Provision of both Positive and Negative Product Information

Marketers provide information which is invariably favourable to the products they are marketing.
But opinion leaders are not directly associated with marketers. They provide both favourable
and unfavourable information about the product. So, opinion seekers have faith in opinion
leaders. They are confident that they are receiving both positive and negative information in an
accurate way.

3. Sources of Information and Advice

Opinion leaders are the source of both information and advice. They simply share their
experience about a product or service. Their talk is related to what they know about a product. In
their more aggressive talks, they advise others to buy or avoid a specific product. They base their
advice on proper reasons.

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 new homeowner thinking of buying a lawn mower
seeks information and advice from other people about which brand to select. After purchasing
the lawn mower, he may be satisfied with the product (in the post purchase experience). Now he
has a compelling need to talk favourably about the purchase to other people to confirm the
correctness of his choice. In the first instance, he is an opinion receiver and in the second he is
an opinion leader.

Sometimes, an opinion leader is influenced by an opinion receiver. For example, a person may
recommend a favourite hotel to his friend. In response the opinion receiver gives his own
comments on that hotel. Finally, the opinion leader may come to realize that the hotel is too
small, too isolated and offers fewer amenities than other hotels.

5. Specific Characteristics

Opinion leaders possess distinct personality traits. These include self-confidence and

gregariousness. They are socially inclined, outspoken and are knowledgeable in specific field.

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A person who is considered particularly knowledgeable about home electronics may be an

opinion leader in terms of this subject, yet when it comes to purchasing a new washing machine,
the same person may seek advice from someone else- perhaps even from someone who has
sought his advice on home electronics.

Measurement of opinion leadership

1. Sociometric method
2. Self- designating method
3. Key- informant method
4. Observation method
5. Objective method

1). The sociometric method consists of asking respondents whom they sought (or hypothetically

might seek) for information or advice about a given topic, such as a particular innovation.
Opinion leaders are those members of a system who receive the greatest number of sociometric
choices. Undoubtedly, the sociometric technique is a highly valid measure of opinion leadership,
as it is measured through the perceptions of followers. It necessitates, however, interrogating a
large number of respondents to locate a small number of opinion leaders. And the sociometric
method is most applicable when all members of a social system provide network data, rather than
when a small sample within the total population is contacted.

It is common to specify the number of sociometric network partners who can be named by a
respondent; for example, "Who are the three (or four, or five) other women in this village with
whom you have discussed family planning methods?" Such limited-choice questioning leads a
respondent to name only the strongest network partners. It is possible that others with whom a
respondent converses less often may exchange information with the respondent that is most
crucial in the diffusion process. Perhaps sociometric questions should allow an unlimited number
of choices, letting the respondent name any number of network partners with whom a topic is
discussed. Another approach is to conduct a roster study, in which each respondent is presented
with a list of all the other members of the system and asked whether he or she talks with each of
them, and how often. The roster technique has the advantage of measuring weak as well as
strong links.

2). An alternative to using sociometry to identify opinion leaders is to ask key informants who

are especially knowledgeable about the networks in a system. Often a handful of informants can
identify the opinion leaders in a system, with a precision that is almost as accurate as sociometric
techniques, particularly when the system is small and the informants are well-informed.

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3). The self-designating technique asks respondents to indicate the tendency for others to regard
them as influential. A typical self-designating question is: "Do you think people come to you for
information or advice more often than to others?" The self-designating method depends upon the
accuracy with which respondents can identify and report their self-images. This measure of
opinion leadership is especially appropriate when interrogating a random sample of respondents
in a system, a sampling design that often precludes effective use of sociometric methods.

4). A fourth means of measuring opinion leadership is observation, in which an investigator

identifies and records the communication behaviour in a system. One advantage of observation is
that the data usually have a high degree of validity. If network links are appropriately observed,
there is no doubt about whether they occur or not. Observation works best in a very small
system, where the observer can actually see and record interpersonal interactions as they occur.
Unfortunately, in such small systems observation may be a very obtrusive data-gathering
technique. Because the members of a system know they are being observed, they may act
differently. Further, an observer may need to be very patient if the diffusion network behavior
that he or she wants to observe occurs only rarely.

5) finally, the objective method of determining opinion leadership is much like a “ controlled
experiment”-it involves placing new products or new-product information with selected
individuals and then tracing the resulting ‘web’ of interpersonal communication concerning the
relevant product. Artificially places individuals in a position to act as opinion leaders and
measures results of their efforts.

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