Introduction
In 1940, Lazarsfeld studied the U.S. Erie County presidential election and found the public wasn’t directly swayed by media—this rejected the “Hypodermic Needle Theory” (which claimed media shapes audience attitudes directly). His book The People’s Choice noted voters’ preferences were more influenced by community “active members” than newspapers or radio.
The theory’s core is that information spreads in two steps. First, media sends info to “opinion leaders” (people with professional knowledge or social influence). Then, these leaders filter and explain the info before passing it to the public, who trust the leaders more than direct media messages.
Case analysis
Li Jiaqi, a top live-stream host, is a classic Two-Step Flow Theory example—he acts as a key opinion leader (KOL).
In the daily live broadcast, Li Jiaqi uses professional live broadcast terms and rendering skills such as “OMG” and “Buy it!” And so on to drive the audience to improve the purchasing power of cosmetics, skin care, daily necessities, etc. His recommendation of products will affect the purchasing decisions of fans and audiences. Many consumers will buy the products in his live broadcast room because “he” is “Li Jiaqi”.
For instance, when beaded bracelets were featured in Li Jiaqi’s live stream in 2025, they were first showcased and introduced by his assistant host. This triggered a wave of “looking for the same style” among netizens: related brand lists of the bracelets were widely shared and saved, and some styles even sold out frequently.
However, In 2023, Li Jiaqi had a Huaxizi incident. It reflects the role of opinion leaders in two-level communication. During the incident, some netizens commented in the live broadcast room that Hua Xizi’s eyebrow pencil was too expensive and questioned the price. Li Jiaqi’s response and behaviour caused public dissatisfaction. His reputation was affected by it and he lost millions of fans. However, at the same time, some of the audience has always recognised the Huaxizi brand and strongly supported Li Jiaqi, which reflects that the live broadcast room as a new “social environment” will link consumers with homogeneous tastes, and the views and behaviours of opinion leaders will produce different communication effects in different groups.
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Contemporary value of theory
Generally speaking, there are advantages and disadvantages of two-level dissemination. It can not only help the popularisation and spread of information, but also may lead to bias or concentration of opinions. Therefore, we need to look at opinion leaders rationally, be good at using the bridge of information, and be wary of the limitations of understanding.
