The Influentials: Back to the Concept of Opinion Leaders?

Abstract

The concept of opinion leadership has been related to a lingering theoretical and methodological debate. The present study examines a new measure to identify opinion leaders (the Strength of Personality Scale) developed by the Allensbach Survey Center in Germany. The results of applying this measure in Germany and Israel allowed the testing of its validity and efficiency. The findings, however, do not suggest that the influentials identified by this scale are opinion leaders according to the original conceptualization, but fit better the more sophisticated characterization of opinion leadership that stemmed from modifications of the original concept of opinion leaders.