ADVERTISING AND IRREVERSIBLE OPINION SPREADINGIN COMPLEX SOCIAL NETWORKS

摘要

Irreversible opinion spreading phenomena are studied on small-world and scale-free net-works by means of the magnetic Eden model, a nonequilibrium kinetic model for thegrowth of binary mixtures in contact with a thermal bath. In this model, the opinion ofan individual is affected by those of their acquaintances, but opinion changes (analogousto spin flips in an Ising-like model) are not allowed. We focus on the influence of adver-tising, which is represented by external magnetic fields. The interplay and competitionbetween temperature and fields lead to order-disorder transitions, which are found toalso depend on the link density and the topology of the complex network substrate. Theeffects of advertising campaigns with variable duration, as well as the best cost-effectivestrategies to achieve consensus within different scenarios, are also discussed.