The new sophistication of opinion leadership: Advancing models of influence in British Columbia’s energy sector

British Columbia is home to rich energy resources including hydroelectricity, fossil fuels, uranium, and renewable power and a population that is highly conscious of environmental sustainability issues. Sustainability is a prominent issue in public debates and the collective consciousness of voters, consumers, academics, business, and the media, with broad participation in that debate. Using interviews with industry opinion leaders, existing research, and evaluating and adapting models of influence from media effects theory, this research examines how organizational opinion leaders in British Columbia’s energy sector attempt to assert influence on their audience. The research finds that technological advances necessitate updating existing models of the flows of influence and that opinion leaders have greater influence in the flow of communication than their audience or the media. Such advances have developed in relationship to a more sophisticated public and communications professionals who are increasingly effective at asserting influence on behalf of opinion leaders.