Page 160 - The Power to Change Anything

Harness Peer Pressure 149

As Rogers later explained, he learned that his recommen-
dations would have fared better if he had carefully sought out
opinion leaders to tout his strains of corn.
Given the boost opinion leaders can offer an influence strat-
egy, it is no surprise to learn that the influencers we studied rou-
tinely use this powerful source of influence. For example, when
Dr. Don Berwick and IHI try to influence the behavior of hun-
dreds of thousands of physicians across the United States, they
first engage the guilds, as they call them. These are the associa-
tions and research groups other physicians look to as credible
sources. When the guilds talk, physicians listen.
Similarly, when Dr. Howard Markman tries to influence
the communication behavior of couples across the country, he
also looks for opinion leaders. He has found that if he trains
members of the clergy to teach couples how to solve problems,
the results are better than if an unknown outsider in Bermuda
shorts swoops into town and offers training.
And how about the Guinea worm disease? Donald Hopkins
and his team don’t consider going into a village without first
working with the village chief or drawing on the power of a
respected official. From there, the local official or chief iden-
tifies respected village members from different groups or clans
who will be listened to when they teach people the vital behav-
iors required to eradicate the Guinea worm disease. Imagine
what would happen if Hopkins recruited a person of no social
standing to carry a lifesaving message that challenges old
beliefs and norms. Such a person would probably be dis-
counted in a heartbeat.
“The message,” Hopkins reports, “is no more important
than the messenger.”
Interestingly, the power of opinion leaders is available even
when you don’t have real opinion leaders. The TV and radio
heroes we referred to earlier become opinion leaders. For exam-
ple, in the village of Lutsaan, India, a community action group
made a solemn covenant to educate their daughters after lis-