Leveraging multiple mechanisms for information propagation

Abstract

We address the problem of how social influence affects the spread of information across a population. Existing work has approached such problems through the use of simple models of influence that utilize a single influence mechanism for inducing changes in a population. We have developed a new model of social influence that recognizes and leverages multiple influence mechanisms and multiple types of relations among individuals. Our model increases expressivity and extensibility over that of existing related models and facilitates analysis of influence effects in a multitude of social contexts (e.g., marketing, trends, decision support). © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.