Is Jenny McCarthy Part of Your Social Network?

TIME:  How Social Networks Influence Parents' Decision to Vaccinate
"At least 95% of parents in both groups indicated that they had consulted their “people network” for insight into making vaccination decisions. Parents reported they paid the most attention to their spouse or partner’s opinion. Pediatricians were next in line, followed by friends and relatives...The effect was overwhelming, particularly for parents whose network mostly recommended not following immunization guidelines; they were more than 1,500 times more likely to not adhere to the CDC’s vaccination schedules for their children than other parents. Even parents whose networks were more compliant about following immunization schedules (comprising 26% to 50% of people who advised against the guidelines) were 31 times more likely to not vaccinate as recommended. “Parents’ people networks matter a ton,” says Brunson, now an assistant professor of anthropology at Texas State University. “Having those conversations with your sister, with your parent, with your friends matter a lot more than we thought.”

also here

Why would you consult your social network as to whether you should vaccinate your child (unless someone in your social network has a background in epidemiology)? 

• Is it an example of the wisdom of crowds?  I don't really see how pooling the opinions of persons with low information would lead to better information.
• Is it that a parent trusts people s/he  knows more than s/he trusts anonymous experts - even if the people s/he knows are known to have no expertise in the topic.  
• Is it that the experts are speaking at too high a level and that statistical results do not get internalized in the same ways that stories do.  Jenny McCarthy's heartbreaking story tying her son's difficulty to immunizations (see  here) elicits a physical response - whereas a CDC study which shows no link between antigen exposure and prevalence of autism does not elicit the same response (even if it has greater predictive value).
• Is it that the parent just wants the re-assurance that s/he is doing what other people s/he knows are doing ie if they are doing it it must be correct ie herd behavior?