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Identifying opinion leaders is a difficult but important task in the diffusion of innovations. If found and employed in the service of a change agent, opinion leaders can greatly increase the rate of information transfer in a population. Previous research has attempted to develop methods of locating opinion leaders, but the available methods are either cost prohibitive or ineffective. A new, self-report measurement technique was developed by Boster, Kotowski, and Andrews (2006), and was found to have high reliability and high validity. The measure has three components that identify the connector, persuader, and maven (CPM) properties found in opinion leaders. The measure was developed in a student sample, however, and needed to be validated with a non-student sample before being deployed in campaign settings. The present study investigates the scales in a nationally-representative, non-student sample, finding that the CPM scales possess equivalent psychometric properties in non-student samples as student samples. With data demonstrating the generalizability of the measures, and finding that about one out of 20 American adults has high levels of the three CPM properties, campaign designers can have more confidence in the measure's application and can use national population norms to develop design criteria. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boster et al.'s (2006) measures of diffusion ability were used to determine if the persuasive attempts of superdiffusers of health information (individuals who are well-connected, persuasive, and knowledgeable about healthy lifestyles) are different from those who are not. In Study 1, 164 undergraduates filled out the measures of diffusion ability. They were then asked how they would try to persuade a target either to lose weight or to avoid smoking. The scenario they were given was either simple or complex. For the Ss who responded to the avoiding smoking scenario a 2 (superdiffuser or not) X 2 (scenario complexity: simple or complex) interaction was found in which superdiffusers who responded to the complex scenario produced more arguments, more overall themes in their arguments, and addressed more elements of the scenario than any of the other three groups. Superdiffusers produced more arguments when they responded to the weight loss scenario. A second study was conducted with 35 Ss who were interviewed about their beliefs on dieting. Their responses were coded for argument complexity. Superdiffusers produced more complex arguments than non-superdiffusers. In total, results indicated that superdiffusers act in ways that would facilitate the effective diffusion of health information. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the main, research investigating pregiving finds that the performance of a favor for another before making a request for compliance increases the likelihood of obtaining compliance with the request. In contrast, a recent study found that pregiving in this manner failed to increase compliance rates. This study offers and tests three different explanations for the missing pregiving effect. Furthermore, this study examines the presence of a potential confound in altruistic requests. Specifically, the success of altruistic requests might not result from the induction of empathy in the target, but rather because of the presence of a reason for the request. Research demonstrates that including a reason along with a request for compliance increases the likelihood of compliance. This experiment examined these issues employing a 2 X 3 independent groups, factorial design crossing three compliance-gaining message types with two pregiving conditions in which an influence agent asked targets to assist in an act of academic dishonesty. The data suggest a reverse pregiving effect under certain conditions. Specifically, the use of pregiving before soliciting compliance with a direct request or a direct request containing a reason lowered the rate of compliance below the rate observed in the absence of a pregiving favor. Furthermore, requests made in an altruistic fashion removed the reverse pregiving effect. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past two decades, online health information exchange has become a prevalent method of researching health topics. To date, however, much of the literature investingating online health information seeking has been largely descriptive in nature. This paper applies a widely cited theory of computer-mediated communication, the Social Identification Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE, Lea & Spears, 1992) to an online discussion board setting, and discusses certain undesirable predictions that the model would make about informational support exchanged in an online setting. It then puts forth a competing hypothesis based on a traditional theory of social influence, Chaiken's (1980) Heuristic Systematic Model, to suggest a boundary condition for SIDE that may make the theory inapplicable to online health support and information exchange situations. Competing hypotheses derived from the two theories are tested to gain a better understanding of social influence processes of online health information exchange. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was designed to investigate why reward-based messages were successful in sustaining cooperation rates in a previous experiment (Andrews and Boster, 2009). Group identity and a more comprehensive understanding of game parameters were posited as potential explanatory mechanisms. A social dilemma experiment will be conducted in which the procedure of Andrews and Boster (2009) is replicated, but including measures of group identity and game understanding in order to assess mediation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]