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opinion leaders throughout every class and occupation and they were much
like the people whom they influence, be they friends, coworkers, or relatives.
The study also threw up the fact that opinion leaders were more exposed to
the radio, to the newspaper and to magazines than the people over whom
they had influence. Therefore ideas often flow from radio and print to opinion
leaders, and from these to the less active sections of the population.
The findings of modern day studies in the light of the original statement
of the two-step-flowhypothesis, suggests the following picture. Opinion
leaders and the people they influence are very much alike and typically
belong to the same primary group of family, friends, and co-workers. Most
spheres of influence focus the group’s attention on some related part of the
world outside the group and it is the opinion leader’s function to bring the
group into touch with this relevant part of the environment through whatever
media are appropriate. Even though opinion leaders appear to be more in
contact with the outside world through the mass media, it is also true that
they are also primarily affected not by the communication media but by still
other people. The main emphasis of this two-step-flow theory appears to
be only on one aspect of interpersonal relations, that is. interpersonal rela-
tions as channels of communication. But studies have revealed that such
interpersonal relations influence the making of decisions at least in two
additional ways.
In addition to serving as a network of communication, interpersonal
relations are also sources of pressures to conform to the groups’ ways of
thinking and acting. Examples of the working of such group pressures are
evident during the election time in the homogeneity of opinion and action
observed among voters. A similar situation is found among doctors. The
social support that comes from being a part of the respected medical com-
munity gives the doctors the confidence needed to adopt a new drug. Similar
examples abound in our every day experience, repeatedly verifying the work-
ing of the two-step-flow of communication, the role of opinion leaders, and
the potency inherent in interpersonal relations.
The two-step-flow theory of communication and influence offered new
perspectives on the mass communication process. Family members, friends,
and others brought ideas from the media to the attention of common public
who were not exposed to it directly. Thus, to re-iterate, there was an indirect
but important flow of ideas and influences from the media to those who
were directly exposed, and from them to additional people who had not read
or heard the original messages.
In his study on this matter, Katz and Lazarfeld found that ‘position in the
life cycle’ was a critical variable determining who would influence whom and
in what area. For example, young working-women in close contact through
media sources with the world of fashions, hairstyles and cosmetics sought

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