The Rise of Informal Opinion Leaders

For at least the past decade we have seen the rise of a special group of people who have been exhibiting more and more influence over the general public. I am talking about informal opinion leaders. More and more so many of us are making decisions on what to buy, what movie to see, what vacation spot to visit, what brand of cereal to eat, what car to drive, what candidate to vote for, etc. based on the recommendation - often unsolicited - of others. More often than not, these persons are not famous. They are viewed as being "informal" because they are not famous. Rather, they are our friends, co-workers and family members. Often, we turn to them rather than make the effort of doing our own fact finding or research. Instead, to borrow a famous line from an old commercial, we leave the driving to others.

There are several interesting aspects of this. One is that it points to a growing lack of trust or confidence on the general public's part in the media, editorial and advertising.  This trend was first cited over ten years ago in a study by two scholars, E. B. Keller and J. L. Berry. Their research indicated that one American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, what to buy, etc. Talk about being influential! A second interesting aspect is it points to the growing power of word-of-mouth advertising. Regular folks talking with regular folks. Thus, it is no surprise that opinion leaders continue to be viewed as a major communication tool for professional communicators.

We are at the beginning of what I predict will be a heated presidential campaign. If the rise of informal opinion leaders continues - and there are no indications it won't - my sense is endorsements each candidate receives from editorial boards and commentators, high profile celebrities, other well known elected officials, and corporate and organizational leaders will have little impact on which way people vote. Instead, look for the candidates and their organizations to pour tons of money into speaking directly to the voters and to making great use of unknown people to speak out on behalf of their clients.  More and more we listen to people with whom we can relate.