Gavin O’Malley recently wrote about a study that found that people were more likely to try a product that was recommended by friends and family than they were to buy a product recommended by a well-known blogger. His conclusion is that “so-called ‘influencers’ might have less clout than some marketers think.” The authors of the study, the Pollara research firm, reach a similar conclusion, “Marketers might have to reconsider who the real influencers are out there,” according to the article. This flies in the face of over 50 years of thought on the issue. But if friends and family are most influential, should marketers give up on finding social influencers? I’ll explore this issue in a series of posts.

Before we get to the issue of how important these influencers are, let’s think about who they are thought to be. In Malcom Gladwell’s 2002 book The Tipping Point, he writes about Mavens, Salesmen, and Connectors, each of whom plays a role in spreading social phenomena and critical information.  Mavens collect information about the marketplace, often to the point of obsession. They remember specifics, down to specific prices. They also want to share the information with others, and to help others find good deals—helping is one of their primary objectives. They continually teach and learn, but don’t try to persuade.  Connectors are interested in connecting others—they are primarily responsible for introducing people to other people. They are action-oriented: They don’t sit around and think about things, but rather they do things. They are curious, self-confident, sociable, and energetic.  Salesmen are persuaders. Their enthusiasm allows others to trust them. They are energetic, likable, optimistic, and emotionally expressive. They love being the center of attention.

These people sound as if they might have a big impact when it comes to the spread of social phenomena, but O’Malley and Pollara seem to think that you’re more likely to seek advice from your loved ones than you are to seek it from experts, social butterflies, or persuaders. In my next post, I’ll discuss whether “so-called influencers” are still worth targeting.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Research, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.