Opinion Leaders

Opinion Leaders

Understanding the function of “opinion leadership” in the promotion of products and services is crucial for marketers. Word-of-mouth marketing, sometimes referred to as opinion leadership, has a significant personal impact on customers. Many individuals are constantly accessible to friends, family, and coworkers because to the widespread use of mobile phones and e-mail. People disseminate messages like viruses. Opinion leaders provide guidance or details on a good or service, as well as how to utilise a certain product. Word-of-mouth communication happens in person or face-to-face.

Opinion Leadership

Opinion leadership is described as the process through which one individual, who may be designated as an opinion leader, affects the views or behaviours of another person informally. They provide informal product or service advise. Opinion leaders are members of social groupings. They have a social networking site. The communication is informal and interpersonal in character, taking place between people who are not directly affiliated with the commercial selling source.

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 a 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 neighbors 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

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,
5. Specific characteristics.

(A) 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.

Marketers provide information which is invariably favorable to the products they are marketing. But opinion leaders are not directly associated with marketers. They provide both favorable and unfavorable 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.

(C) 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.

(D) 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 mover seeks information and advice from other people about which brand to select. After purchasing the lawn mover, he may be satisfied with the product (in the post purchase experience). Now he has a compelling need to talk favorably 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 favorite 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.

Opinion leaders possess distinct personality traits. These include self-confidence and gregariousness. They are socially inclined, outspoken and are knowledgeable.