Opinion Leadership for Ethnic Products

An examination of the demographic profile of the United States reveals that, over time, there has been a significant increase in the ethnic diversity of American society among African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. Along with that trend, there has also been an increase in the demand for products designed specifically for the members of those groups. In response to this demand, producers have developed products and communicated information about those products to their customers. Historically, opinion leaders have played an important role in assisting in the communication process for those products. What has changed is that those products were not intended for ethnic consumers, and little academic literature existed about the communication process for ethnic products. This book fills that void by investigating the traits of the opinion leader for ethnic products and examining how they spread information to those they seek to influence. The identification of this new type of opinion leader, and how they spread information, should be especially useful to producers of ethnic products, and to professionals in fields of communication, advertising, and marketing.