Opinion leadership in a computer-mediated environment

This paper investigates the characteristics of opinion leaders within the computer-mediated environment, analyses the differences between online opinion leaders and online non-leaders and examines the implications of opinion leadership theory for e-commerce. This study finds that opinion leaders in computer-mediated environments possess significantly higher levels of enduring involvement, innovativeness, exploratory behaviour and self-perceived knowledge than non-leaders. Online opinion leaders also possess greater computer skills, have used the internet for a longer period of time and use the internet more frequently for longer sessions than non-leaders. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.