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Health Education & Behavior
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Identifying Opinion Leaders to Promote Behavior Change

Thomas W. Valente, PhD

University of Southern California, Alhambra, tvalente{at}usc.edu

Patchareeya Pumpuang, MPH

University of Southern California, Alhambra

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.

Key Words: opinion leaders • lay health advisors • health advocates • health champions • community leaders • behavior change • health promotion • peer leaders

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This version was published on December 1, 2007

Health Education & Behavior, Vol. 34, No. 6, 881-896 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1090198106297855
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This Article
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