“A STUDY ON THE ROLE OF OPINION LEADERS IN RURAL

MARKETING INFLUENCING CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR.”

ROUGH DRAFT SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE

TITLED

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

DR.MANOJ MISHRA NAME- SANKET SHIVANSH

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT COURSE-BBA.,LLB(HONS.)

ROLL NO. - 2036

SEMESTER – 3RD

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

NYAYA NAGAR, MITHAPUR, PATNA-800001

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 INTRODUCTION

Rogers, (1962), suggests opinion leadership to be viewed as a continuous variable even though it
is disproportionately concentrated in a few individuals for a given topic area. Although this
position has been well established, most of the research on opinion leadership has used the
dichotomy of leaders and non-leaders because the operational measures of opinion leadership
precluded its treatment as a continuous variable (Charles, K. 1970). Prior literature has widely
researched on interpersonal communication and its influence across various disciplines. A
concern for the impact of informal or word-of-mouth communication has emerged as a strong
interest area within the domain of consumer behavior research (Schiffman, L., & Gaccione, V.
1974). Much literature support is present in the identification of opinion leader in different
situations. Research is needed to identify the ways in which opinion leaders form the opinion of
different non-leaders.

Opinion leaders have been defined in many ways Cosmas, C., & Sheth, J. (1980) defines them as
“someone whose opinions are highly respected and utilized by the respondents to help in making
decision across a variety of situations such as what types of clothes to wear, where to have major
household items repaired, how to discipline children, and for whom to vote in political elections.

TYPES OF OPINION LEADERSHIP

Marketing and communication literature distinguishes two types of opinion leadership:
1. Monomorphic opinion leadership.
2. Polymorphic opinion leadership.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE

 To explain the complete construct of opinion leader

 Explain their characteristics and identifying the influencing strategies triggered by
opinion leaders.

HYPOTHESIS

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The researcher will be relying on Doctrinal and Non Doctrinal mode of research to complete the
project.

RESEARCH QUESTION

 What do we mean by Opinion Leader?

 What are the various kinds of opinion leaders?
 How opinion leader influence consumers buying behavior?
 What are the characteristics of opinion leader?

TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION

1. INTRODUCTION
2. TYPES OF OPINION LEADERS
3. CHARACTERISTICS OF OPINION LEADERS
4. THE IMPORTANCE OF OPINION LEADERS IN MARKETING
5. FIELD WORK
6. CONCLUSION AND SUGESSTION

LIMITATION OF STUDY

The researcher has territorial, monetary and time limitations in completing this project.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
The researcher has consulted following sources to complete the rough proposal:

Secondary Sources

Books

 ABELSON, H. & RUGG, W. 1958. Self-designated Influentiality and Activity.

Public Opinion Quarterly, 22, 566.
 Armelini, G., and Villanueva, J. (2010). Marketing Expenditures and Word-of-mouth
Communication: Complements or Substitutes? Hanover, MA: Now Publishers Inc.

Websites

 Opinion Leadership | Meaning | Definition | Characteristics, Money Matters | All

Management Articles (2019), https://accountlearning.com/opinion-leadership-meaning-
definition-characteristics/ (last visited Aug 3, 2019).
 2009 B.V., Opinion Leader: Summary and Forum 12manage.com (2019),
https://www.12manage.com/description_opinion_leader.html (last visited Aug 3, 2019).