TY - JOUR AU - Arndt, Johan AB - By Johan Arndt A Test of the Two-step Flow in Diffusion of a New Product The findings generally support In its original formulation, the two- step flow hypothesis may be restated the hypothesis except that a as follows. heavy flow of word-of-mouth 1) Messages (information) flow from from non-leaders to leaders impersonal sources (mass media) to the requires reinterpretation of opinion leaders-the first step. the process as opinion sharing, 2) The opinion leaders influence the not opinion giving. by the nonleaders (who are less affected impersonal sources) by means of word- ,One of the most frequently quoted of-mouth-the second step. but least well documented findings This conceptualization linked the from the 1940 Erie County voting stu- formal channels of communication- dy was the hypothesis of the “two-step the mass media-with the informal flow of communication.” Finding that channels, placing the opinion leaders opinion leaders were more exposed to between the media and the mass. It the mass media than nonleaders and may be that few formulations in the that word-of-mouth appeared to be the behavioral sciences have had more im- most important source of information pact than the two-step flow model. for the voters, Lazarsfeld, Berelson and First, this TI - A Test of the Two-Step Flow in Diffusion of a New Product JF - Journalism Quarterly DO - 10.1177/107769906804500306 DA - 1968-09-01 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/a-test-of-the-two-step-flow-in-diffusion-of-a-new-product-9v00NTk00y SP - 457 EP - 465 VL - 45 IS - 3 DP - DeepDyve ER -