Ciri dan Pengaruh Pemimpin Pendapat Dalam Kalangan Pekebun Kecil Kelapa Sawit

The Characteristics and Influence of Opinion Leaders on the Palm Oil Smallholders

Abstract

The study aims to examine the characteristics of an opinion leader and its influence in the community of smallholders of palm oil. The opinion leader is necessarily an important and influential individual in the success of village development programmes and can attract youth to engage in the palm oil industry. This study used a mixed method of data collection combining both the qualitative and quantitative approaches. Through a qualitative approach, face-to-face interviews with four key informants comprising entrepreneurs, village chiefs, Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) members and an acting village chief were conducted. This study was conducted in Johor (involving three areas, namely Batu Pahat, Kluang dan Kulai) which is among the most populated state of palm oil smallholders. Surveys were also conducted on 100 respondents who were identified as opinion leaders in the community. Opinion leaders are influential members of a community, group, or society to whom others seek for advice, opinions, and views. The findings show that personal characteristics such as personality, demography, social status, innovative, knowledgeable and high social mobility are easier to attract followers in the youth circle. Other features are media habits, product-related characteristics, social attributes, and also features as opinion seeker are found to have a significant relationship with the influence of opinion leaders. This means that formal education is no longer a guarantee for a person to get a follower because the important things are experience and expertise in the field.