Concept
Two-Step Flow Theory
TOO-step FLOH THEE-uh-ree
Also Known As Two Step Flow of Communication
Media Studies
The theory that media effects reach most people indirectly, filtered through the personal influence of opinion leaders who attend more closely to media and pass on their own interpretation to others, rather than reaching a passive audience directly. First introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld and colleagues in a 1944 voting study and elaborated by Elihu Katz and Lazarsfeld in 1955, it reframed the direct-effects assumptions of the hypodermic needle model.
Facts
Concept Domain Formulated Year Domain
Domain (category) Connections
Associated With
Lazarsfeld's two-step flow research is what disproved the hypodermic needle model's direct-effects assumption.
Source Wikipedia
Developed in reaction to the direct-effects assumptions of the hypodermic needle model.
Source Wikipedia
Additional Source Two-step flow of communication (Wikipedia)Two-step flow of communication, Basic overview section
In Medium
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationTwo-step flow of communication, Basic overview section
The theory is based on a 1940s study on social influence that states that media effects are indirectly established through the personal influence of opinion leaders.
Two-step flow of communication, About section
It was first introduced by sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld et al. in 1944 and elaborated by Elihu Katz and Lazarsfeld in 1955 and subsequent publications.
- Associated With: Hypodermic Needle Model, Hypodermic needle model, Concept section
View the Source Two-step flow of communication (Wikipedia)
- Two-step flow of communication, Lead
- In Category: Concepts, Two-step flow of communication, About section
- Associated With: Hypodermic Needle Model, Two-step flow of communication, Basic overview section
View the SourceDissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Description
In 1960, Paul Deutschmann and Wayne Danielson urged that the Katz-Lazarsfeld two-step flow hypothesis, as a description of the initial information process, be applied to mass communication only with caution. Later research, including studies cited in Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations, found many respondents crediting their awareness of an event directly to mass media rather than to face-to-face relay through an opinion leader, challenging how universally the two-step mechanism actually operates.
A dissenting reading, from an independent laneWikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation
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