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Opinion leadership in small groups

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  • Moldovan, Sarit
  • Muller, Eitan
  • Richter, Yossi
  • Yom-Tov, Elad

Abstract

The role of opinion leaders in the diffusion of innovation has recently come under scrutiny: On the one hand, their central role in accelerating diffusion has been recognized in industry, academia, and the popular media. On the other hand, it has been argued that opinion leaders do not create contagion processes that differ significantly from those of other types of customers. We offer here a synthesis of these opposing theses: For many applications, opinion leadership should be studied in small groups rather than in an entire network.

Suggested Citation

  • Moldovan, Sarit & Muller, Eitan & Richter, Yossi & Yom-Tov, Elad, 2017. "Opinion leadership in small groups," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 536-552.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:34:y:2017:i:2:p:536-552
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.11.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Moldovan, Sarit & Steinhart, Yael & Lehmann, Donald R., 2019. "Propagators, Creativity, and Informativeness: What Helps Ads Go Viral," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 102-114.
    2. Rudeloff, Christian & Damms, Julius, 2022. "Entrepreneurs as influencers: the impact of parasocial interactions on communication outcomes," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    3. Muller, Eitan & Peres, Renana, 2019. "The effect of social networks structure on innovation performance: A review and directions for research," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 3-19.
    4. Jansen, Nora & Hinz, Oliver, 2022. "Inferring opinion leadership from digital footprints," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1123-1137.
    5. Okazaki, Shintaro & Plangger, Kirk & West, Douglas & Menéndez, Héctor D., 2020. "Exploring digital corporate social responsibility communications on Twitter," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 675-682.
    6. Sandra Tobon & Jesús García-Madariaga, 2021. "Influencers vs the power of the crowd: A research about social influence on digital era," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, vol. 37(161), pages 601-609, October.
    7. Romero-Rodríguez, Margarita E. & Rodríguez-Donate, M. Carolina & Hernández-García, M. Carmen & Rodríguez-Brito, M. Gracia, 2020. "Influence of opinion leadership identification criteria: The purchase of smartphones," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    8. Zheng Shen & Armida de la Garza, 2019. "Developing a Digital Artifact for the Sustainable Presentation of Marketing Research Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-22, November.

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