ABSTRACT
The traditional linear model of communication originally placed the mass media in a predominant role in the way information was thought to disseminate to an aggregate of consumers. To better understand how rumors spread in the consumer marketplace, it is particularly instructive to review how marketing communication experts conceive the flow of word-of-mouth through the opinion leadership process. Within the word-of-mouth network, smaller clusterings of interconnected consumers who share strong ties with one another may exist. Opinion leaders are typically considered highly credible sources of consumer-related information, because they are perceived as neutral and objective and equally apt to convey unfavorable information about a product or brand as favorable. Unlike low self-monitors, who lack either the motivation or ability to fit in, high self-monitors are more likely to seek out and consider information that is relevant to norms for self-presentation in a situation.
