Principles and Techniques of Veterinary and AH Extension

CHARACTERISTICS 

• Key-communicators have been found to have distinctive characteristics.
• On the basis of a review of a large number of research studies, Rogers and Shoemarker (1971) drew the following conclusions regarding characteristics of key-informants.
• External communication
• Key-communicators have greater exposure to massmedia than their followers
• Key-communicators are more cosmopolitan than theirfollowers.
• Key-communicators have greater change agentcontact than their followers
• Accessibility
• Key-communicators exercise relatively greater socialparticipation than their followers in a social system
•  Social status
• Key communicators enjoy a relatively higher socialstatus than their followers as far as conditions in that social system exists.
• Innovativeness
• Key-communicators are more innovative than their followers
• When the social system’s norms favour change, key-communicatorsare more innovative but otherwise not especially so.
• When the norms of a system are more modern,key-communicators are more monographic. Monography is the tendency of akey-communicator to act as such for only one topic.