Concepts of Opinion Leadership For MBAs

Q: What is opinion Leadership?
Ans: Opinion Leadership is the process by which one person
(opinion leader) informally influences the actions or attitudes of
others, who may be opinion seekers or merely opinion recipients.
The definition emphasizes on informal influence. This informal flow of opinion related influence between two or more people is referred to word-of-mouth communication

one of the parties in a word-of mouth encounter usually offers advice or information about a product or service, such as which of several brands is best, or how a particular product may be used.
This person is the opinion leader and may become an opinion
Receiver. Individuals who actively seek information and advice about products are often called opinion seekers.

These opinion leaders are :
· a part of the social groups
· a social communication network.
· the informal word -of-mouth communication
· interpersonal in nature.
· no commercial selling source or the firm.

Q: Discuss the Measurement of Opinion Leadership?
Ans: The methods or techniques we use to measure
opinion leadership are:
There are four popular methods to measure opinion leadership:
a) The self-designating method.
b) The sociometric method.
c) The key informant method.
d) The objective method.
Let me explain each of the methods in greater details:

In the self-designating method, respondents are asked to
evaluate the extent to which they have provided others with
information about a product category or specific brand or have
otherwise influenced the purchase decisions of others.

The sociometric method measures the person-to-person
informal communication of consumers concerning products or
product categories.
In this method, Respondents are asked to identify:
i) The specific individuals (if any) to whom they provided advice or information about the product or brand under study.
ii) The specific individuals (if any) who provided them with
advice or information about the product or brand under study.
Individuals designated by the primary respondent are tentatively
classified as opinion leaders.
Any intact community provides an opportunity to measure and
evaluate the flow of word-of-mouth communications concerning
a new product and its subsequent impact on product trial.

A key informant is a person who is keenly aware or knowledgeable about the nature of social communications among
members of a specific group.
The key informant is asked to identify those individuals in the
group who are most likely to be opinion leaders.
The key informant does not have to be a member of the group
under study.

The objective method 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(s).


Q: What are the Characteristics of Opinion Leaders?
Ans: Some of the main features that all opinion leaders have
are:
1. Opinion leaders are perceived to be highly credible
sources of product related information. Opinion
leaders are persons who are considered to be
knowledgeable. They often voice their opinion based on
first hand information.
2. Opinion leaders are gregarious people and also have a
lot of experience: Their experience as a shopper and user
sets them apart from other people. Since most of their
advice is based on first hand experience, opinion receivers
have a lot of confidence in their advice..
3. Opinion leaders usually provide unbiased information,
This adds credibility to them and opinion seekers have faith that they are receiving correct information.
4. Opinion leaders are both sources of information and
advice
5. Opinion leaders have got greater exposure to the
media, especially in their area of leadership
6. Opinion leaders tend to be consumer innovators.
7. Opinion leaders have got some personal product
specific characteristics like personality traits, social
status and demographic characteristics

Q: Describe the Reasons for the Effectiveness of Opinion Leadership?
Ans: The Reasons for the Effectiveness of Opinion Leadership are:
· Credibility
· Positive and Negative Product
· Information
· Information and Advice
· Opinion Leadership Is Category-
· Specific
· Opinion Leadership Is a Two-way
· Street


Q: What are the Motivations Behind Opinion Leadership?
Ans: The Motivations Behind Opinion Leadership are:
· The Needs of Opinion Leaders
· The Needs of Opinion Receivers
· Purchase Pals
· Surrogate Buyers versus Opinion Leaders


Q: What is a Market Maven?
Ans: Individuals whose influence stems from a general knowledge or market expertise that leads to an early awareness of new products and services

Q: Explain the profile of Opinion Leaders
Ans: Understanding an opinion leader requires study of a profile of opinion leader so that we can identify them.
The General attributes across product - Innovativeness, Willingness to talk, Self-Confidence, Gregariousness, Cognitive differentiation
Category specific attributes- Interest, Knowledge Special-interest media exposure, same age, same social status, social exposure outside group