Finding and utilizing opinion leaders: Social networks and the power of relationships

South African Journal of Business Management

Volumn 40, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 65-76

  Van Der Merwe, R ^a   Van Heerden, G ^b  

^a EBAY INC   (United States)

^b LULEÅ UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Sweden)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77950287185     PISSN: 20785585     EISSN: 20785976     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.4102/sajbm.v40i3.545     Document Type: Article

References (47)

1. th Edition. London: Penguin Books.
2. Bansal, H.S. & Voyer, P.A. 2000. 'Word-of-mouth processes within a services purchase decision context', Journal of Service Research, 3(2): 166-177.
3. th Edition. Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers.
4. Bonacich, P. 1972. 'Factoring and weighting approaches to status scores and clique identification', Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 2: 113-120.
5. Burt, R.S. 1991. STRUCTURE reference manual, Version 4.2. New York: Columbia University.
6. Burt, R.S. 1992. Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
7. Burt, R.S. 1999. 'The social capital of opinion leaders', Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November: 1-22.
8. rd Edition. Tavistock Publications Limited.
9. Chau, P.K. & Hui, K.L. 1998. 'Identifying early adopters of new IT products: A case for Windows 95', Information & Management, 33:225-230.
10. Childers, T.L. 1986. 'Assessment of the psychometric properties of an opinion leadership scale', Journal of Marketing Research, 23 (May): 184-188.
11. Cross, R., Borgatti, S.P. & Parker, A. 2002. 'Making invisible work visible: Using social network analysis to support strategic collaboration', California Management Review, 44(2): 25-46.
12. th Edition. Chicago: The Dryden Press.
13. Feick, L.F. & Price, L.L. 1987. 'The market maven: A diffuser of marketplace information', Journal of Marketing, 51(January):83-97.
14. Flynn, L.R., Goldsmith, R.E. & Eastman, J.K. 1994. 'The King and Summers Opinion Leadership Scale: Revision and refinement', Journal of Business Research, 31: 55-64.
15. Flynn, L.R., Goldsmith, R.E. & Eastman, J.K. 1996. 'Opinion leaders and opinion seekers: Two new measurement scales', Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24(2): 137-147.
16. Granovetter, M. 1992. 'Problems of explanation in economic sociology'. In Networks and organizations: structure, form, and action, Nohria, N. and Eccles, R. G. (Eds.). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 25-56.
17. Grewal, R., Mehta, R. & Kardes, F.R. 2000. 'The role of the social-identity function of attitudes in consumer innovativeness and opinion leadership', Journal of Economic Psychology, 21: 233-252.
18. th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
19. Hirsh, L. 2001. 'Tell a friend: Viral marketing packs clout online', E-commerce Times, October 31. http://www.ecoimnercetimes.com/storv/14295.html? wlc=1251910901. Accessed July 8,2003.
20. Hoekstra, V.J. 1995. 'The Supreme Court and opinion change: An experimental study of the court's ability to change opinion', American Politics Quarterly, 23:109-129.
21. Howard, K.A., Rogers, T., Howard-Pitney, B. & Flora, J.A. 2000. 'Opinion leaders' support for tobacco control policies and participation in tobacco control activities', American Journal of Public Health, 90(8): 1282-1287.
22. Hubbell, C.H. 1965. 'An input-output approach to clique detection', Sociometry, 28: 377-399.
23. Jamrozy, U., Backman, S.J. & Backman, K.F. 1996. 'Involvement and opinion leadership in tourism', Annals of Tourism Research, 23(4): 908-924.
24. Katz, L. 1953. 'A new status index derived from sociometric analysis', Psychometrika, 18: 39-43.
25. Kern-Foxworth, M. 1992. 'Martin Luther King Jr.: Minister, civil rights activist, and public opinion leader', Public Relations Review, 18(3):287'-297.
26. King, C.W. & Summers, J.O. 1970. 'Overlap of opinion across consumer product categories', Journal of Marketing Research, 7 (February): 43-50.
27. Kohli, A. 1989. 'Determinants of influence in organizational buying: A contingency approach', Journal of Marketing, 53(July): 50-65.
28. Krackhardt, D. & Stern, R.N. 1988. 'Informal networks and organizational crises: An experimental simulation', Social Psychology Quarterly, 51(2): 123-140.
29. Kvicala, J. 2002. 'Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli reaffirms goal of becoming $100 Billion company by 2007 despite 'unprecedented, uncharted, turbulent times', Terry College of Business - News, August 16. URL: http://www.terrv.uga.edu/news/releases/2002/ttt-nardelli.html Accessed July 8, 2003.
30. Langeard, E., Crousillat, M. & Weisz, R. 1978. 'Exposure to cultural activities and opinion leadership', Advances in Consumer Research, 5:606-610.
31. Lazarsfield, P., Berelson,B. & Gaudet, H. 1948. The people's choice. New York: Columbia University Press.
32. Locock, L., Dopson, S., Chambers, D. & Gabbay, J. 2001. 'Understanding the role of opinion leaders in improving clinical effectiveness', Social Science & Medicine, 53(6):745-757.
33. Myers, J.H. & Robertson, T.S. 1972. 'Dimensions of opinion leadership', Journal of Marketing Research, 9(February):41-46.
34. Nahapiet, J. & Ghoshal, S. 1994. 'Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage', Academy of Management Review, 23(2): 242-267.
35. Nunnally, J.C. 1978. Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
36. Rogers, E. 1962. Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press.
37. th Edition. Prentice Hall.
38. Sellers, P. 1996. 'Can Home Depot fix its sagging stock?', Fortune, 133(4), March 4 [Online] URL:: http://monev.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune archive/19 96/03/04/210046/index.htm
39. Silk, A.J. 1966. 'Overlap among self-designated opinion leaders: A study of selected dental products and services', Journal of Marketing Research, 3(August):255-259.
40. Simon, H.A. 1982. Models of bounded rationality, Volume 2. Cambridge: MIT Press.
41. Starch, R. 2000. 'Online opinion leaders are highly influential', Nua Internet Surveys, June 19. URL:http://www.nua.ie/survevs/?f=VS&art id=905355852 &rel=true. Accessed July 14, 2003.
42. Valente, T.W. 1995. Network models of the diffusion of innovations. Cresskill: Hampton Press.
43. Walsh, G. & Mitchell, V.W. 2001. 'German market mavens' decision making styles', Journal of Euro-Marketing, 10(4):83-108.
44. Wasserman, S. & Faust, K. 1994. Social network analysis methods and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
45. Webster, C. 1988. 'The importance consumers place on professional services', Journal of Services Marketing, 2(1):59-70.
46. Weimann, G. 1991. 'The influentials: Back to the concept of opinion leaders?', Public Opinion Quarterly, 55: 267-279.
47. Williams, T.G. & Sláma, M.E. 1995. 'Market mavens' purchase decision evaluative criteria: Implications for brand and store promotion efforts', Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12(3):4-21.