Modeling the Social Structure of Online Discussion Groups: Implications for Controlling Viral Marketing

Abstract

This research examines the process by which information diffuses within newsgroups on the Internet. Our results empirically demonstrate that these newsgroups are scale-free networks where the potential for information dissemination is important, albeit somewhat unpredictable. This leads us to reconsider the econometric foundations of forecasting methods typically used by marketers.

Keywords

Internet word-of-mouth viral marketing discussion groups power law scale-free network

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