There are Five stages of growth of a movement, product or candidate.
Explorers, Enthusiasts, Influentials, Target and Mainstream
There are the
explorers. These people have needs that can't be met elsewhere, and so they forage outward. These are the first people to buy a town house in a dangerous section of town to start the gentrification process, these are the people who adopt a new programming language, these are the people who started bungie jumping before there were comercial anythings.
Explorers, if they begin to cluster, and there is something there, produce enthusiasts. Explorers can be defined by their willingness to experiment, take personal risk, go it alone. They are people who have needs not met elsewhere - and therefore they are willing to take tremendous chances to find out what they do. The explorer sees potential in everything - particularly unused potential. The explorer is the person who buys the fix up, or adopts a new programming language when he has to build some tools himself. The explorer is the kind of person who actually looks at linux source code, or will be the first person to try out the Ethiopian food place that just opened.
Explorers value "the rush".
Enthusiasts. The Enthusiast is the "some assembly required" level. The explorer is willing to make his own parts to bungie jump - the enthuisiast is willing to buy parts and put them together. The explorer learns by doing, the enthusiast wants there to be a source of "the basics". The enthusiasts appear when "the book" is first written. Very often enthusiasts cover the first explorers in media. The explorer buys a home in a run down section of town. The enthusiast is they guy who sees it is time to open a hardware store. The enthusiast has a high tolerance for working things out, but does not want to build himself. The enthusiast hates being annoyed or having his time wasted, He wants things to be ready to put together, and often wants to be able to undercut the mainstream on time or price. Enthusiasts are often the first people to get really good at a new sport - because they look for the nuances, the real tension. Enthusiasts like ideas, but they like mastering those ideas in practice.
Enthusiasts value mastery.
Influentials. The influential is defined by their network of people. When they see a cluster of enthusiasts, they start to listen. They value the commerce of knoweldge and mastery. They want "a short cut" to that distinct space of being able to handle a situation perfectly. They won't just go to a new Indian food restaurant, they will ask others first. Influentials are not just engaged civically, they like the contact with other people and have a respect for others accomplishment. Influentials get respect, because they give respect. Influentials have a talent for summarizing or compressing knowledge. They are the meme makers and the factoid filters.
Influentials value integrity.
Leaders. Leaders are people who resemble the mainstream, but who have a more self-conscious sense of assemblingtheir lives. They are the people who actually get three bids for home repair. They are the people who collect the whole season on DVD and learn it. They are the people who actually have enough closet space. Leaders organize already existing groups, they value expansion. Influentials make groups grow - leaders put them to work.
Mainstream: The mainstream is the group which wants to make choices from limited alternatives. They model themselves on leaders, listen to influentials on how to do it easily. The mainstream values simplicity, they don't want to worry about things. They watch what others are doing and follow the crowd. The mainstream doesn't always follow the leader though - very often the mainstream settles on "good enough" and stays there, leaving the rest of the chain to forge out on their own. Consider, for example, internet access. The mainstream chose dialup, and stayed there, even as the rest of the computer chain went in search of the broadband grail.
Within each of these groups are people who are more closely connected up or down the chain. The explorer has enthusiast friends - who know when they can get the gear together and go. Influentials cultivate enthusiasts - because enthusiasts know the subject in detail. Leaders cultivate influentials, because where there are influentials, there is a channel. The mainstream searches for leaders to show them that it is safe to rush in, or at least, safe enough.