The two-step flow theory in communications is an idea introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld and his colleagues Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet that focused on the flow of communication.  The theory states that information from the media moves to the public in two distinctive ways. First, mass media flows to opinion leaders and then opinion leaders pass the information on to the public. Lazarsfeld and his colleagues completed the study in 1944 and the results were recorded in The People’s Choice (Choi, 2014).  The study was done during the 1944 presidential election.  Today, the theory is just as prevalent as it was when it was formed in the 1940s.  It can still be studied how we consume mass media and if opinion leaders have an influence on the way the public gains access to the media or how they formulate their own thoughts. The various channels of  social media has had an impact on the two-step flow theory and has impacted the way the theory flows. Public relations campaigns still implement the theory while taking in the changes of the theory due to social media, and can be used to help increase a client’s brand awareness.  

To effectively understand the two-step flow theory, it is important to understand the changes in the way media is consumed since Lazarsfeld began his research.  The original hypothesis of the study was, “Ideas often flow from radio and print to the opinion leaders and from them to the less active sections of the population,”  (Bostian, 1970). The focus of the study was to determine people’s decision making process. In the original study, mass media had less of an effect than it originally had been hypothesized (Bostian, 1970).  The major source of influence appeared to be other people. These “opinion leaders” were those who tried to convince others to support their ideas and opinions. These influencers or opinion leaders were similar to the people they influenced, the major difference was the leaders exposure to mass media (Bostian, 1970). Thus, the two-step fold theory was formulated.  The initial research did not actually measure a two-step flow. The two-step flow idea was a hypothesis drawn from the idea that opinion leaders did persuade individuals, and opinion leaders did have higher exposure to mass media information regarding the election (Bastian, 1970). This research measured general media exposure, and was criticized for being too simple.  A major topic that was later studied was the opinion leader and the role of interpersonal relationships in communication situations (Bastian, 1970). Elihu Katz studied the theory at the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University. Katz became involved with Lazarsfeld to further develop the theory. In 1957, the theory was updated and the function of “interpersonal relations as communication networks and as sources of social pressure or support,” (Bastian, 1970).  With later studies conducted, the two-step flow became a multi-step flow. Information flows from mass media through several relays of opinion leaders who communicate with one another and with followers (Bastian 1970). Scholars found that, “opinion leaders were distributed in all occupational groups and at every socioeconomic level,” (Choi, 2014). This is an incredibly important factor and realization in the adaptions to the two-step theory. The research showed that opinion leaders were experts in one specific field, not several. An expert in fashion or sports is not going to be an opinion leader in politics or a similar matter.   In other words, opinion leaders tend to “personify certain values, to have more familiarity with certain issues, and to be positioned at the center of certain social networks,” (Choi, 2014).

The biggest change to the two-step flow theory is the introduction of social media into society.  The initial information is still being distributed by opinion leaders. However, now that information is passed on by those people to other members of the public.  This is easily done through Facebook and other social media platforms. For example, Facebook users can share information by sharing articles through external links (Choi, 2014).  Social media gives a larger portion of the population the opportunity to become opinion leaders. This impacts the theory because everyone has a different social media following. People have all different amounts of followers and different kinds of interactions on social media. One person could share an article on Facebook that reaches 150 people and another could share that same article and it could reach over 1,000. No one individual uses social media in the same way.  An issue that has come about because of the addition of social media is the amount of misinformation that can be spread, especially during an emergency situation. When an emergency crisis occurs, basically anyone who addresses it on a social media platform (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) becomes a opinion leader. However, not everything posted on social media turns out to be true, especially in these types of situations when not all the facts are known. According to an article written by Natalie Pang and Joshua Ng, “The dissemination of misinformation can mislead, create panic, and make it even harder to manage a public emergency,” (Pang and Ng, 2016).  

In public relations, it is crucial to understand the two-step flow theory, especially when implementing the four step process.  Understanding the target audience is extremely important for public relations professionals. Otherwise, they will have a hard time getting the audience to change their view or complete the action they are trying to get them to do.  An example of a public relations campaign that used the two-step flow theory was Wendy’s #NuggsforCartercampaign. The campaign was completed by Ketchum and won the PRSA 2018 Silver Anvil Award. In April 2017, Carter Wilkerson tweeted Wendy’s asking how many retweets he would need to win free nuggets for a year.  Wendy’s responded back with the response of 18 million, and took the opportunity to take advantage of the effectiveness of user-generated content on social media. The twitter interaction produced huge results, including multiple Ellen appearances, more than 2.5 billion earned media impressions, and a 376 percent increase in online conversations mentioning Wendy’s (Ketchum, 2018).  In this example, Carter Wilkerson is the “opinion leader” and used his twitter platform as a way to communicate with the general population (other twitter users). Then when his followers retweeted his tweet, their followers were then also exposed to the tweet. This campaign was successful and effectively used the two-step flow theory including social media. Another campaign using the two-step flow theory was the Diva in a Hostel campaign by Hostelworld.  The campaign created by Lucky Generals, created a video featuring Mariah Carey. The premise of the video was that if a hostel is good enough for a diva like Mariah Carey, it is good enough for an everyday tourist. Mariah Carey then promoted the video on her personal social media accounts, where the post generated more than 127,000 likes and comments. In this campaign, Mariah Carey is the opinion leader who is using her position and and own social media handles as a way to communicate the message to the general public. This campaign also featured a contest where users could enter to win a luxury hostel, flights, and 1,000 euros by “tagging a diva” in the comments, (“Tag a Diva”, 2018). This exposed the video to even more people than just those who follow Mariah Carey. This demonstrates the more modern two-step flow theory with the incorporation of social media.  

The two-step flow theory was revolutionary for its time and is still relevant in public relations today.  Understanding the audience and being able to reach them through the message is an extremely important part of being successful in public relations.  While the theory has been adapted because of the introduction of social media, it can still be used in public relations campaigns and can be used to help create a strategic outreach method.  Wendy’s #NuggsForCarter campaign and Hostelworld’s Diva in a Hostel campaign both successfully used the two-step flow theory in their campaigns. They both used opinion leaders on social media to spread  the message of their campaigns. The two-step flow theory can be used throughout all different kinds of public relations and easily adaptable to include social media.