A FIELD TEST OF A MODIFIED “TWO-STEP FLOW OF COMMUNICATION” MODEL

A BOUT TWENTY YEARS have passed since the Lazarsfeld group of sociologists introduced the hypothesis of a "twostep flow of communication."' Despite the growing accumulation of relevant research stimulated by it, not enough has been done to add specification to the original statement of the hypothesis, taking into account these more recent findings.2 Recently, the author tried to develop an elaboration of the twostep-flow hypothesis in an attempt to assimilate findings that the original hypothesis did not seem to explain in a specific manner. In the fall of 1962, a field experiment was conducted in suburban Boston to test some of the assertions implied by the new model. The main elements in the conceptual model and findings of the field experiment are reported here.3