Multi-stage complex contagions

2011/11/30 by Sergey Melnik, Jonathan A. Ward, James P. Gleeson +1
Computer Science · Decision Sciences · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #Complex network #Complex system #Emotional contagion #Game Theory and Applications #Influencer marketing #Information cascade #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Product (mathematics) #Social network (sociolinguistics) #cs.SI #math.DS #nlin.AO #physics.soc-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.4790836

published as Chaos 23, 013124 (2013) · 12 pages, 10 figures. This version is accepted to appear in Chaos

openalex publication_date 2013/02/21 · arxiv created 2013/02/22 · arxiv updated 2015/03/19 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

The spread of ideas across a social network can be studied using complex contagion models, in which agents are activated by contact with multiple activated neighbors. The investigation of complex contagions can provide crucial insights into social influence and behavior-adoption cascades on networks. In this paper, we introduce a model of a multi-stage complex contagion on networks. Agents at different stages-which could, for example, represent differing levels of support for a social movement or differing levels of commitment to a certain product or idea-exert different amounts of influence on their neighbors. We demonstrate that the presence of even one additional stage introduces novel dynamical behavior, including interplay between multiple cascades, which cannot occur in single-stage contagion models. We find that cascades-and hence collective action-can be driven not only by high-stage influencers but also by low-stage influencers.

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