Media consumption and population characteristics of political opinion leaders

The information sources from which opinion leaders and nonleaders hear about political candidates in a race for the United States Senate were examined in this study. The age and sex of political opinion leaders were examined, and data were gathered to determine if political opinion leaders are more likely to develop candidate preferences than nonleaders. Results demonstrated that opinion leaders hear about candidates from all media as well as interpersonal communication. No significant age differences were found between leaders and nonleaders. Males, however, were significantly more likely to be political opinion leaders than females. The incidence of political opinion leadership was also found to be higher among registered voters who state their preference for a political candidate.