A newly published study has raised the question about the importance of opinion leaders in word of mouth marketing and communication. Duncan Watts and Peter Dodds conducted a series of computer simulations that suggest that influentials (a.k.a. opinion leaders) may not be the most important element in determining whether an message spreads throughout a network. Rather, they found that "large cascades of influence" are more likely to be driven by a critical mass of easily-influenced individuals.  Influencees rather than Influentials.

This study raises some interesting questions:

1) If you are building a word of mouth or grassroots campaign, do you to take a targeted approach and try to focus on opinion leaders? Or, do you take a scattershot approach and try to reach as many people as possible? (Assume you can't do both, given that your resources are limited).

2) Isn't this obvious information, that you need a critical mass of easily-influenced individuals for a cascade of influence? Or, does the study offer a valuable new perspective?

3) Can you actually do anything to affect a critical mass of easily-influenced individuals? Or, do you hope that you roam the range looking for a herd?

I hope to tackle each of these questions in forthcoming posts! Feel free to join the conversation.

This entry was posted by Tom Pionek, on Saturday, January 12, 2008. You can leave your response.