Opinion Leadership Scale

What it measures

The most widely used product-specific opinion leadership scale, originally adapted from Rogers & Cartano (1962) and subsequently revised by Childers (1986) with improved response formats. Items are adaptable to any product category by inserting the category name. The Childers (1986) revision is recommended for most research — coefficient alpha 0.83 (6-item version after deletion of item 5) to 0.88 across samples. Flynn et al. (1994) confirmed that a 6-item version (deleting item 5) shows superior unidimensionality via SEM and alpha 0.78–0.88 across four samples. Correlates with product ownership (r=0.28), domain-specific risk, innovativeness, and prior adoption behaviour. Means differ across known groups (premium cable subscribers M=20.0 vs refusers M=15.2 in Childers 1986 Study 2).

Representative items

• In general, do you talk to your friends and neighbors about [product category]: very often / never (Childers)
• When you talk to your friends and neighbors about [product category] do you: give a great deal of information / give very little information (Childers)
• During the past six months, how many people have you told about [product category]? (Childers)
• Compared with your circle of friends, how likely are you to be asked about [product category]? (Childers)
• Overall, are you: often used as a source of advice / not used as a source of advice (Childers)

Citation

King, C.W., & Summers, J.O. (1970). Overlap of opinion leadership across product categories. Journal of Marketing Research, 7(1), 43–50.