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Influential Opinion Leaders

Author

Listed:
  • Antoine Loeper
  • Jakub Steiner
  • Colin Stewart

Abstract

We present a two-stage coordination game in which early choices of experts with special interests are observed by followers who move in the second stage. We show that the equilibrium outcome is biased toward the experts' interests even though followers know the distribution of expert interests and account for it when evaluating observed experts' actions. Expert influence is fully decentralized in the sense that each individual expert has a negligible impact. The bias in favor of experts results from a social learning effect that is multiplied through a coordination motive. We show that the total effect can be large even if the direct social learning effect is small. We apply our results to the diffusion of products with network externalities and the onset of social movements.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Antoine Loeper & Jakub Steiner & Colin Stewart, 2014. "Influential Opinion Leaders," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(581), pages 1147-1167, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:econjl:v:124:y:2014:i:581:p:1147-1167
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecoj.2014.124.issue-581
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. What Should We Do About Influential Opinion Leaders – Expert Biases & Election Outcomes
      by Miguel in Simoleon Sense on 2010-04-29 19:47:37

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gallice, Andrea & Grillo, Edoardo, 2025. "Shifting social norms through endorsements," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    2. Card. Johnson, Rutherford & Walker II, Eddie G., . "Willingness to Pay for Recreational Land Use in Minnesota," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 9(01).
    3. Shadmehr, Mehdi & Bernhardt, Dan, 2019. "Vanguards in revolution," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 146-166.
    4. Prummer, Anja & Squintani, Francesco, 2024. "An organizational theory of unionization," Discussion Papers 2024/7, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    5. Song, Yangbo, 2025. "Social learning among opinion leaders," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 451-473.
    6. James Kai-sing Kung & Alina Wang, 2026. "Overseas students, ideology, and the fall of dynastic China," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 1-40, March.
    7. Walker, Clive B., 2024. "Going mainstream: Cryptocurrency narratives in newspapers," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    8. Kohei Kawamura & Vasileios Vlaseros, 2015. "Expert Information and Majority Decisions," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 261, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    9. Hsiao, Yu-Hsiang & Lin, Yi-Yi, 2025. "Decoding influencer marketing effectiveness on instagram: Insights from image, text, and influencer features," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    10. Dominik Grafenhofer & Wolfgang Kuhle, 2021. "Observing Actions in Global Games," Papers 2111.10554, arXiv.org.
    11. Pradelski, Bary S.R., 2023. "Social influence: The Usage History heuristic," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 105-113.
    12. Konuray Mutluer, 2024. "Leading by Example Among Equals," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp791, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    13. Sandra Tobon & Jes�s Garc�a-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.
    14. Kawamura, Kohei & Vlaseros, Vasileios, 2017. "Expert information and majority decisions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 77-88.
    15. Shadmehr, Mehdi, 2015. "Extremism in revolutionary movements," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 97-121.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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