The secret to how certain products create a ripple in social media while others fail despite working hard is hidden in a proper timing strategy of promotion, says a research.
People in social networks are often influenced by each
other's decisions, resulting in a run of behaviours in which
their choices become highly correlated, thus causing a
cascade of decisions.
other's decisions, resulting in a run of behaviours in which
their choices become highly correlated, thus causing a
cascade of decisions.
"Our work began from the realisation that an organisation trying to guide the success of a
cascade sometimes has an interesting source of leverage under its control - the timing by
which it introduces the cascade to different parts of the network," said study co-author
Jon Kleinberg from Cornell University.
cascade sometimes has an interesting source of leverage under its control - the timing by
which it introduces the cascade to different parts of the network," said study co-author
Jon Kleinberg from Cornell University.
"Consider, for example, how a company can choose to roll out a product at different times in
different geographic areas or to different markets," Kleinberg added.
different geographic areas or to different markets," Kleinberg added.
"To our surprise, the success of the cascade can sometimes be greatly affected by this choice
of timing," the researcher said.
of timing," the researcher said.
"With the right timing strategy, the cascade can have a good likelihood of spreading very widely,
while with the wrong strategy, it can have very little chance of going far," Kleinberg said.
while with the wrong strategy, it can have very little chance of going far," Kleinberg said.
The researchers set out to characterise the kinds of timing strategies that are most effective,
and how these strategies depend on the structure of the network in which they are operating.
and how these strategies depend on the structure of the network in which they are operating.
They developed an algorithm for this timing or scheduling problem in cascades, adapted from
a widely used framework in economic theory.
a widely used framework in economic theory.
"Our work has identified these timing effects as an important potential strategy for
catalysing a cascade. But our analyses work with a relatively streamlined model of individual
decision-making," Alessandro Panconesi from Sapienza University of Rome, said.
catalysing a cascade. But our analyses work with a relatively streamlined model of individual
decision-making," Alessandro Panconesi from Sapienza University of Rome, said.
The study was published in the SIAM Journal on Computing.
