SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THE MARKETING OF INNOVATIONS

Authors

  • Herbert Kimura Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie
  • Leonardo Fernando Cruz Basso Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie
  • Diógenes Manoel Leiva Martin Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie

Abstract

Understanding the dynamics of the adoption of new technologies by consumers is becoming increasingly important, given the speed at which innovations emerge. For the marketing area, new challenges arise because the technological advance may create different product-user profiles, implying the need to implement new mechanisms in order to touch consumers. Considering word-of-mouth marketing within a context of social networks, this paper seeks to assess the diffusion of the use of new technologies. Using stochastic modeling, populations are computersimulated with different degrees of connection in social networks, and the evolution of the proportion of users of a new technology is estimated. The use of stochastic modeling allows the analysis of complex phenomena that would be difficult to assess empirically due to the problems relating to the creation of constructs, the gathering of data, the adjustment of estimates of parameters to the realities of new technologies, and the limitations of statistical tools. The results of the model suggest that the strengthening of links between individuals, as well as the implementation of marketing programs that exploit the interactions in social networks, constitute important strategies for increasing the speed of diffusion of technologies.

KEYWORDS: Adoption of new technologies; Social networks; Word-of-mouth marketing; Stochastic modeling of social networks; Technological diffusion.

Downloads

Author Biographies

Herbert Kimura, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie

Doutor em Administração pela Escola de Administração e Economia da Fundação Getulio Vargas de São Paulo (EAESP-FGV). Professor adjunto associado da Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM).

Leonardo Fernando Cruz Basso, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie

PhD em Economia pela New School for Social Research (Estados Unidos). Professor da Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM).

Diógenes Manoel Leiva Martin, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie

Doutor em Administração de Empresas pela Escola de Administração e Economia da Fundação Getulio Vargas de São Paulo (EAESP-FGV). Professor da Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM).

Published

2008-08-04

Issue

Section

Presentation