
Operations, Information and Decisions Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
12-2008
Publication Source
Marketing Letters
Volume
19
Issue
3
Start Page
287
Last Page
304
DOI
10.1007/s11002-008-9048-z
Abstract
Social interactions occur when agents in a network affect other agents’ choices directly, as opposed to via the intermediation of markets. The study of such interactions and the resultant outcomes has long been an area of interest across a wide variety of social sciences. With the advent of electronic media that facilitate and record such interactions, this interest has grown sharply in the business world as well. In this paper, we provide a brief summary of what is known so far, discuss the main challenges for researchers interested in this area, and provide a common vocabulary that will hopefully engender future (cross disciplinary) research. The paper considers the challenges of distinguishing actual causal social interactions from other phenomena that may lead to a false inference of causality. Further, we distinguish between two broadly defined types of social interactions that relate to how strongly interactions spread through a network. We also provide a very selective review of how insights from other disciplines can improve and inform modeling choices. Finally, we discuss how models of social interaction can be used to provide guidelines for marketing policy and conclude with thoughts on future research directions.
Copyright/Permission Statement
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-008-9048-z
Keywords
social interactions, networking, social multiplier, peer effects
Recommended Citation
Hartmann, W. R., Manchanda, P., Nair, H., Bothner, M., Dodds, P., Godes, D., Hosanagar, k., & Tucker, C. (2008). Modeling social interactions: Identification, empirical methods and policy implications. Marketing Letters, 19 (3), 287-304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-008-9048-z
Included in
Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Other Communication Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons
Date Posted: 27 November 2017
This document has been peer reviewed.