ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to compare the media behavior of opinion leaders and non-leaders to see whether the leaders tend to be the more exposed, and the more responsive group when it comes to influence stemming from the mass media. It argues that the hypothesis is substantiated in each of the arenas of influence. The kind of information it takes to be an opinion leader in marketing is quite different, of course, from the kind required for influentiality, say, in public affairs. Within each of the media, of course, there is a world of variation. The arenas of fashions and of public affairs, however, show striking differences. In these two realms, the leaders far exceed the non-leaders in “cosmopolitan” communications exposure. Smaller differences, but essentially the same story, hold true for the well educated groups. The movie and marketing leaders are indistinguishable from non-leaders, while the leaders in fashions and public affairs markedly exceed the non-leaders.
