How to identify and use Opinion Leaders as brand advocates by word of mouth in rural India

1. Consumer Behaviour
influencing dimensions of Opinion Leadership
and its preferred usage as a marketing tool over traditional
advertisements & promotions in rural markets
Debanjan Saha, Ph.D.

2. Agenda
Introduction
Why the Topic
Concepts/Theories/Philosophies
Contemporary Development/Research
Analysis/Own Thoughts
Suggestions
Conclusion
Appendix

3. Introduction
Budget Exercise
Current Practices in Media Plan
Traditional ATL & Innovative BTL
ROMI Customer Acquisition/Retention

4. Why the Topic
 Rural Markets : Growth Prospects
 Cost-effective marketing communications
 Enhanced conversion from prospects
 Better Customer Engagement
 Improved Customer Retention
 Realize higher Customer Life Time Value
 Growth in Volume & Value

5. Concepts/Theories
 Consumer Buying Behaviour – influencers
 Culture
 Society
 Personal
 Psychological
 Consumer Buying Behaviour – stages
Need/
Problem
Recognition
Info Search
Evaluation of
Alternatives
Purchase
Decision
Post Purchase
Evaluation

6. Concepts/Theories contd.
 Dimensions of Opinion Leadership
 Tremendous Passion
 Vast updated Knowledge
 High Innovativeness / risk appetite
 Desire to share information
 Good Social Interaction / influence
 Personality – Distinctiveness, Individuality, Confidence
 Enjoys trust and respect of society
 Advice and Guidance are willingly accepted by others

7. Contemporary Research
Topic Author
Opinion Leadership
King & Summers, 1970
Myres & Robertson, 1972
Childers, 1986
Chan & Misra, 1990
Market Maven
Flyn, Goldsmith & Eastman 1996
Clark & Goldsmith, 2005
Consumer Innovativeness
Goldsmith & Hofacker, 1991
Goldsmith & d’Hauteville, 1998

8. Analysis/Own Thoughts
Traits of Rural Consumers :
• High distrust on communication by business organisations
• High levels of skepticism of new offerings
• Higher conservatism and lower consumer innovativeness
• Perception of lack of adequate information of products
• Limited access to internet and specialized magazines
• Seeking value for money options over novelty purchases
• Higher levels of socializing and shared problem solving
• Culture of moderation and a propensity to save

9. Suggestions
Activation of Opinion Leadership
1. Activate Info access in vernacular languages
2. Targeted Advertisements
3. Identify Opinion Leaders (OLs)
4. Information Sharing mechanism with OLs
5. Engage with OLs: Hands-on field trials/demos
6. Facilitate mass Diffusion of innovations by OLs
7. Regular Feedback & feed-forward - OLs

10. Conclusion
 Cost-effective marketing communications
 Higher ROMI compared to traditional
advertisements and promotions.
 Higher customer conversions at lower costs
 Better engagement & loyalty

11. Appendix

12. Appendix

13. Appendix - Bibliography
Armstrong, Gary M, and Feldman, Laurence P., “Exposure and Sources of
Opinion Leaders”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 16, No. 4, Aug 1976,
pp. 21-27
Blackwell, R.D., et.al., Consumer behavior.9th ed. Orlando, Harcourt College
Publishers, 2001
Chan, K.K. and Misra, S., “Characteristics of the Opinion Leader: A New
Dimension”, Journal of Advertising, Vol.19, No. 3, 1990, pp.53-60
Childers, T. L., “Assessment of the psychometric properties of an opinion
leadership scale”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 23, 1986, pp. 184–188.
Clark, R. A., & Goldsmith, R. E., “Market mavens: Psychological influences”,
Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 22, 2005, pp. 289–312.
Corey, Lawrence G., “People Who Claim to be Opinion Leaders: Identifying
Their Characteristics by Self-Report”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35, Oct 1971,
pp. 48-53.

14. Appendix - Bibliography
Feick, L and L.L. Price, “The market maven: A diffuser of market place
information”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51 (1), 1987, pp. 83-97
Flynn, L.R., Goldsmith, R.E., & Eastman, J.K., “Opinion leaders and opinion
seekers: Two new measurement scales”, Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, Vol. 24, 1996, pp. 137–147.
Goldsmith, R.E., & d’Hauteville, F., “Theory and measurement of consumer
innovativeness”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 32, 1998, pp. 340–353.
Goldsmith, R. E., & Hofacker, C. F., “Measuring consumer innovativeness”,
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 19, 1991, pp. 209–221.
Grewal, R., R. Mehta, and F. R. Kardes. “The role of the social identity
function of attitudes in consumer innovativeness and opinion leadership”,
Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 21 (3), 2000, pp. 233–52.
King, C. W., and J. O. Summers, “Overlap of opinion leadership across
consumer product categories”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 7 (1), Feb
1970, pp. 43–50.

15. Appendix - Bibliography
Mancuso, J.R., “Why Not Create Opinion Leaders for New Product
Introductions?”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33, July 1969, pp. 20-25
Merwe, R.van der and G van Heerden, “Finding and utilizing opinion leaders:
Social networks and the power of relationships”, South African Journal of
Business Management Vol. 40(3), 2009, pp. 65-76
Myers, James H, and Thomas S Robertson, “Dimensions of Opinion
Leadership”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 9, Feb 1972, pp. 41-46.
Rogers, Everett, Diffusion of Innovations, New York, The Free Press, 1962.
Schiffnam, L.G. and Kanuk, L.L., Consumer Behavior, 6th Ed, New Delhi,
Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., 1998
Venkatraman, M. P., “Opinion leaders, adopters, and communication
adopters: A role analysis”, Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 6, 1989, pp. 51–68.