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The Influentials: One American in Ten Tells the Other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy
One American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy. They are
The Influentials
Who are they? The most influential Americans -- the ones who tell their neighbors what to buy, which politicians to support, and where to vacation -- are not necessarily the people you'd expect. They're not America's most affluent 10 percent or best-educated 10 percent. They're not the "early adopters," always the first to try everything from Franco-Polynesian fusion cooking to digital cameras. They are, however, the 10 percent of Americans most engaged in their local communities...and they wield a huge amount of influence within those communities. They're the campaigners for open-space initiatives. They're church vestrymen and friends of the local public library. They're the Influentials...and whether or not they are familiar to you, they're very well known to the researchers at RoperASW. For decades, these researchers have been on a quest for marketing's holy that elusive but supremely powerful channel known as word of mouth. What they've learned is that even more important than the "word" -- what is said -- is the "mouth" -- who says it. They've identified, studied, and analyzed influence in America since the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (now Exxon) hired Elmo Roper himself to develop a model for identifying opinion leaders, and in The Influentials, they are finally ready to share their results. A few
• Influentials have been the "early majority" -- leading indicators of what Americans will be buying -- for more than five decades, from choosing energy-efficient cars in the 1970s to owning computers in the 1980s to adopting 401(k)s and IRAs in the 1990s to using the Internet and cell phones today.
• Influentials have led the way in social development as well, from the revival of self-reliance (in managing their own health care, investments, and consumption) to mass skepticism about the marketing claims of everything from breakfast food to politicians.
Although America's Influentials have always been powerful, they've never been more important than now. Today, a fragmented market has made it possible for Influentials to opt out of mass-message advertising, which means that a different route must be taken to capture their hearts and minds. The Influentials is a map for that route, a map that explains who these people are, how they exercise influence, and how they can be targeted. The Influentials features a series of rules and guidelines for marketing to Influentials; case studies of products that have prospered because of Influential marketing (and products that have failed because they lacked it); a history of the phenomenon...and why Influentials are more influential today than ever; and profiles of twelve real-life Influentials.
Both an intellectual adventure and a hands-on marketing manual, The Influentials is an extraordinary gold mine of information and analysis that no business can afford to ignore.
The Influentials
Who are they? The most influential Americans -- the ones who tell their neighbors what to buy, which politicians to support, and where to vacation -- are not necessarily the people you'd expect. They're not America's most affluent 10 percent or best-educated 10 percent. They're not the "early adopters," always the first to try everything from Franco-Polynesian fusion cooking to digital cameras. They are, however, the 10 percent of Americans most engaged in their local communities...and they wield a huge amount of influence within those communities. They're the campaigners for open-space initiatives. They're church vestrymen and friends of the local public library. They're the Influentials...and whether or not they are familiar to you, they're very well known to the researchers at RoperASW. For decades, these researchers have been on a quest for marketing's holy that elusive but supremely powerful channel known as word of mouth. What they've learned is that even more important than the "word" -- what is said -- is the "mouth" -- who says it. They've identified, studied, and analyzed influence in America since the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (now Exxon) hired Elmo Roper himself to develop a model for identifying opinion leaders, and in The Influentials, they are finally ready to share their results. A few
• Influentials have been the "early majority" -- leading indicators of what Americans will be buying -- for more than five decades, from choosing energy-efficient cars in the 1970s to owning computers in the 1980s to adopting 401(k)s and IRAs in the 1990s to using the Internet and cell phones today.
• Influentials have led the way in social development as well, from the revival of self-reliance (in managing their own health care, investments, and consumption) to mass skepticism about the marketing claims of everything from breakfast food to politicians.
Although America's Influentials have always been powerful, they've never been more important than now. Today, a fragmented market has made it possible for Influentials to opt out of mass-message advertising, which means that a different route must be taken to capture their hearts and minds. The Influentials is a map for that route, a map that explains who these people are, how they exercise influence, and how they can be targeted. The Influentials features a series of rules and guidelines for marketing to Influentials; case studies of products that have prospered because of Influential marketing (and products that have failed because they lacked it); a history of the phenomenon...and why Influentials are more influential today than ever; and profiles of twelve real-life Influentials.
Both an intellectual adventure and a hands-on marketing manual, The Influentials is an extraordinary gold mine of information and analysis that no business can afford to ignore.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2003
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163 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 28, 2013
This subject matter is very interesting to me... If you're a fan of Malcolm Gladwell (cf. The Tipping Point), you already speak in the language of mavens and connectors and salespeople. Gladwell popularized his theories of mimetics.
In Anatomy of Buzz, Emanuel Rosen calls influential mavens "hubs", who spread information to those they know in their networks.
Berry's book The Influentials starts out well, and is interesting... but then delves in to lots of statistics based on surveys of Americans done by Roper Reports. Most of the book cites endless series of statistics based on such surveys... Boooooring.
The material and anecdotes about many example Influentials (including Tim Draper), was by far the most interesting part of this book (they call them "Profiles").
Again, I love the subject matter, and I appreciated the context, and the profiles, but there has got to be a way to make this an order of magnitude more interesting.
(Yawn!)
In Anatomy of Buzz, Emanuel Rosen calls influential mavens "hubs", who spread information to those they know in their networks.
Berry's book The Influentials starts out well, and is interesting... but then delves in to lots of statistics based on surveys of Americans done by Roper Reports. Most of the book cites endless series of statistics based on such surveys... Boooooring.
The material and anecdotes about many example Influentials (including Tim Draper), was by far the most interesting part of this book (they call them "Profiles").
Again, I love the subject matter, and I appreciated the context, and the profiles, but there has got to be a way to make this an order of magnitude more interesting.
(Yawn!)
April 9, 2011
It was a good story, but having a background in social analytics I found the core premise quite off target as it doesn't really work that way. I was happy I found this in a $1 discount bin a few months after it was published as it was worth that price. Has I paid full price I would likely have given it one star. The book provides good stories, but really doesn't do much more than that.
November 19, 2013
Outdated, vague and full of statements like "influentials are not all the same." Really? Generally an insult to the trees and squid who died to produce the book. Lots of talk about how to reach people in 2003. Sigh. At least it will leave my bookshelf.
May 24, 2016
I would be interested in seeing an updated report. This one still has a ton of great information on a very important subgroup of people. Read through the eyes of a marketer, this report has some takeaways.
June 18, 2007
got a little repetitive, but was just what i was looking for at the time
December 20, 2010
Great study on how market trends grow. Very well done and as a sociological study and insightful
June 10, 2011
Good information, although a bit dated.
Just should have been an article instead of a whole book!
Just should have been an article instead of a whole book!
October 30, 2012
This book focused a lot on statistical patterns of so-called influentials. That is mildly interesting but lends no real insight to how one can BE more influential which is what I was looking for.
March 29, 2013
A should-read book for knowledge workers and entrepreneurs on concepts and social trends.
January 20, 2016
Too much of the book is outdated and repetitive . Had some interesting nuggets but not worthwhile enough to read the whole book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews