Opinion Leadership - Personality Characteristics

Two personality characteristics are predominant in opinion leaders regardless of their area of expertise. The first being self-confidence; the second being socially active. Self-confidence is thought to be a function of greater knowledge of product characteristics and interest in the product, while social activity is probably a willingness to communicate with others in a group setting (1, p. 433-434). As a result of being socially active and interconnected in their communities, opinion leaders are likely to hold office in community groups or clubs and be active outside the home. Their community positions lead to legitimate power by virtue of their social standing (24, p. 355).

This gregariousness transcends every domain. Opinion leaders tend to come into contact with many people through both social activities and their professions. They speak openly at meetings, participate in discussions, and participate in social events. They are involved in multiple social networks, and thus have many friends and acquaintances (27, p. 79).

"Surprisingly, intellectual superiority does not characterize the influentials... This, in fact, should be interpreted as suggesting similarity between the influential and his or her followers: such similarity facilitates common language, considerations, interests, values, and evaluations. An intelligence gap between leader and follower constitutes a barrier rather than a promoter of personal influence." The term "intelligence" used here should not be confused with "knowledgeability," which is consistently a predictor of opinion leadership (27, p. 73-74).

A more recent study, conducted by Chan and Misra in 1990, delved into the role of public individuation, which can best be defined as "a state in which one feels differentiated from others and chooses to act differently" (4, p. 58-59). The study concluded, "in addition to personal involvement and product familiarity, public individuation was... important in distinguishing opinion leaders from non-leaders" (4, p. 53).

In summary, opinion leaders tend to possess the following social attributes (27, p. 89):

Gregariousness
Social activity
Centrality in social networks
Social accessibility
Social recognition
Credibility