Identifying opinion leaders to promote behavior change
Abstract
This article reviews 10 techniques used to identify opinion leaders to promote behavior change. Opinion leaders can act as gatekeepers for interventions, help change social norms, and accelerate behavior change. Few studies document the manner in which opinion leaders are identified, recruited, and trained to promote health. The authors categorize close to 200 studies that have studied or used opinion leaders to promote behavior change into 10 different methods. They present the advantages and disadvantages of the 10 opinion leader identification methods and provide sample instruments for each. Factors that might influence programs to select one or another method are then discussed, and the article closes with a discussion of combining and comparing methods.
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Many programs use haphazard, invalid, or convenience methods to identify who delivers the program.
“Many programs use haphazard, invalid, or convenience methods to identify who delivers the program [19].”
From Social Network Analysis for Program Implementation (2015) · cites this paper as [19]
Network-identified peer opinion leaders have been used in dozens of studies to accelerate behavior change.
“Network-identified peer opinion leaders have been used in dozens of studies to accelerate behavior change.”
From Social Network Analysis for Program Implementation (2015) · cites this paper as [19]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Valente, T. W., & Pumpuang, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- University of Southern California, Alhambra
- Corresponding author
- Valente, Thomas W.
- ORCID
- Valente, Thomas W.
- Venue
- Health Education & Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-12
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 881-896
- ISSN
- 1090-1981 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-6127
- OpenAlex
- W2107709347
- Cited by
- 884
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 98 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 76 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 61 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 42 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 42 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 27.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health Education & Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (P50DA016094, DA 16094)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Community Health and Development
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Keywords
- opinion leaders, opinion leader identification, behavior change, health promotion, social norms, gatekeepers, health communication
- MeSH terms
- Health Promotion, Humans, Leadership, Peer Group, Psychology, Social, Public Opinion, Residence Characteristics, Social Support, Health Behavior
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