Opinion Leadership - The Decatur Study

The Decatur Study, named after Decatur, Illinois, the community in which the study was conducted, applied more systematic measures and examined both the relationships of opinion leaders with their followers and the media (27, p. 16-17). Decatur was chosen as a result of its demographics, social and economic structure, population composition, mass communication usage patterns, and the general quality of community life. The study included women residents (aged 16 and over), who were interviewed twice - once in June and again in August - to track changes in prior decisions. Four specific areas of daily decision-making were the focus of the study (27, p. 17):

1. Marketing (foods, household products, small consumer goods)
2. Fashion (clothing, hair styles, cosmetics)
3. Public Affairs (political and social issues)
4. Movie-going (choices among movies offered)

If changes in decisions were noted between the first and second interview, "careful probing was employed to identify the sources that influenced the decision. By isolating specific changes of opinion and digressing to the influences that allegedly produced them, the researchers located the individuals who were mentioned more frequently as sources of influence" (27, p.17).

The study identified opinion leaders by two methods. The first was through the testimony of the followers, while the second was self-designation, where each participant was asked about her influenceability. The study found 693 "self-detected" opinion leaders, who Katz and Lazarsfeld used for continued research. Three significant factors related to the positioning and functioning of opinion leaders was documented (27, p. 18):

1. Position on the social ladder (i.e. social status),
2. Position in the "life-cycle," and
3. Gregariousness.

Within the area of Marketing, Katz and Lazarsfeld found opinion leaders to be distributed across all levels of social status (high, middle and low), with tendencies toward a horizontal flow of communication, rather than vertical. Prior to the Decatur study, the flow of influence was presumed to be a vertical process, which would be reflected by a proportionately larger number of opinion leaders in "high" social status positions. Thus it was determined women turn to other women within their same social status for advice, as opposed to seeking out women of higher social status (27, p. 19).

Katz and Lazarsfeld also concluded opinion leaders were concentrated among large-family wives (position in the "life-cycle"). This group tended to have more experience and involvement with daily marketing issues (27, p. 19). Finally, the researchers determined "highly gregarious women (those who have a large number of friends and belong to several organizations) are more likely to be opinion leaders." The study clearly indicated the number of opinion leaders increased as did the level of gregariousness. This finding was somewhat expected as opinion leaders are found to exercise their particular influence through their social ties (27, p. 19-20).