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The Importance of Word-of-Mouth Networks And  Opinion Leaders  In Kenya

The importance of personal sources of information—friends, family and other community members—cannot be overemphasized in Kenya. The news that passes through all of the media and ICT sources is often passed around communities, from person to person, throughout the country. Respondents in all demographic groups said they discuss news and information regularly with others, and that their conversations cover a number of issues (see Chart 1).

Chart 1

More than half of those surveyed said they discuss health, agriculture and general news and information (including current events) with others on at least a monthly basis; discussion of financial issues lags slightly, but is still common. Most respondents said fewer than 10 people look to them for opinions and advice, but about 10 percent have very large networks, with some helping more than 30 other people to interpret news (Chart 2).

Chart 2

Note: Throughout this paper, “Opinion leaders” are defined as respondents who said that people come to them “very often” for opinions and advice about each issue.

Although Kenyans report word-of-mouth to be one of their most important and frequent sources of development information, they do not necessarily consider those sources to be very trustworthy (Charts 3 and 4). By way of comparison, about 96 percent of respondents rated radio news and information as somewhat or very trustworthy, compared to 75 percent if the source is “friends and family,” and 61 percent if the source is “other people in the community.”

Chart 3

Chart 4