Such a person may not have formal tribal or other authority (through for instance material possessions, or inheritance of rights), but can maintain recognition through skilled persuasion and wisdom.
Rather, big men commonly compete with one another in an ongoing process of reciprocity and re-distribution of material and political resources.
Spreading the word of his power and capabilities – thereby establishing reputation and recognition among outsiders – requires the delivery of resources as tribute to relevant big men of other groups.
As such, the big man is subject to a transactional order based on his ability to effectively balance these mutually opposed tasks.
[citation needed] The first use of the term may be found in the English-translation of Dreißig Jahre in der Südsee (1907) by Richard Parkinson.