to discard current thinking about how individuals influence the masses. Conventional wisdom holds that in order to spread buzz you have to target people who are influential in their communities. Watts disagrees, saying that “most of the time buzz is spread by networks ‘and a critical mass of easily influenced people each of whom adopts, say, a look or brand after being exposed to a single adopting neighbor.’"According to BrandWeek, Watts’ theories are based on “thousands of computer simulations, which incorporate various assumptions about (a) how individuals influence one another via direct, interpersonal influence, (b) who influences whom with respect to some particular decision, and (c) what constitutes an ‘influential.’”
Watts says that marketers should focus less on targeting influencers. Instead, they should identify the people who are easily influenced and the social networks that spread information.
This is interesting, high-level stuff. However, I think there are areas where the traditional influencer model fits perfectly. For example, in pharmaceutical marketing and public health a lot of time is spent educating and recruiting “key opinion leaders” (KOLs). These KOLs then have a profound influence on prescribing patterns of “rank-and-file” physicians.
To learn more about Watts and his theories, please click here.
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