Two - Step Flow Theory

Two - Step Flow Theory was developed by Katz and Lazarsfeld. The theory consists of two steps:

Firstly - opinion leaders get information from a media source.

Secondly – opinion leaders then pass their own interpretation along to others such as friends and family members (the influenced).

Opinion leaders pay close attention to the media and its message. They are influential among their peer group as they are usually more informed then their friends or family.

The influenced are not as well informed and so look up to the opinion leaders and crucially trust their opinion and interpretation of the media.

Examples of Two – Step flow theory include elections for example in the 2017 UK general Prime Minister Teresa May did not take part in an election debate with six other party leaders. An opinion leader may have watched the debate and then told their friends who did not watch the debate that the Prime Minister bottled out as she was scared to debate with the other leaders.

Fashion magazines also offer a good example of Two – Step flow theory where they act as the opinion leader telling their readers what next seasons trends are.

This video explains Two - Step Flow Theory