Technological opinion leadership: The role of personal innovativeness, gadget love, and technological innovativeness

This study contributes to existing literature by developing and testing a model of factors that drive technological opinion leadership (TOL). We expand Bruner and Kumar's (2007) study by empirically testing the relationships between technological innovativeness and technological opinion leadership and between gadget lovers and technological innovativeness using a student sample and a national sample. We also contribute to the literature by (a) testing the relationships between personal innovativeness, technological innovativeness, and gadget lovers, and (b) investigating the mediational role of gadget lovers between personal innovativeness and technological innovativeness. Results indicate: (1) technological innovativeness and gadget lovers are predictors of technological opinion leadership, (2) personal innovativeness is positively related to technological innovativeness and gadget lovers, and (3) gadget lovers partially mediate the relationship between personal innovativeness and technological innovativeness. Implications for managers and scholars are provided based on the two studies' results. Published by Elsevier Inc.