Innovation Diffusion of Mobile Applications in Social Networks: A Multi-Agent System

Lixin Zhou, Jie Lin, Yanfeng Li and Zhenyu Zhang
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Lixin Zhou: School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Jie Lin: School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Yanfeng Li: School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Zhenyu Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: Mobile application innovation diffusion can be used to enhance the reputation and competitiveness of Internet enterprises. However, few works have explored the process of mobile application innovation diffusion from the individual perspective. Therefore, this paper employs multi-agent methods to simulate the innovation diffusion of mobile applications from the perspective of social networks. Specifically, we combine psychology, sociology, game theory and network effect theory to model user behaviors of adoption and rejection decisions for mobile applications. The multi-agent model was built in Anylogic 8 to simulate the communication and interaction between individual users. Then, this paper discusses the evolution of decision-making of social network user groups with different network structures and network effects. We also investigate the impact of different firms’ promotion on innovation diffusion. Our findings suggest firms could make better strategies and achieve better diffusion effects from mobile applications.

Keywords: mobile applications; innovation diffusion; multi-agent; social networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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