Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction

  • Chapter
Networked Consumers

  • 108 Accesses

Abstract

As is now evident to even a casual observer, network memberships continuously emerge from the natural settings of our everyday lives and can have pervasive effects on our attitudes and behavior (e.g. Castells 1996). This is nowhere more evident than in our interactions as consumers (Arena and Conein 2008; Birke 2009; de Valck, van Bruggen and Wierenga 2009; Kuenzel and Musters 2007). While analytics in personal consumption remain predominantly in representative agents, interactions between consumers have been introduced in a range of applications (Brass 1984; Cordes 2009; Harkola and Greve 1995; Knudsen 2008; Pentina, Prybutok and Zhang 2008). However, these applications have not comprehensively addressed the case where consumer interaction is organized by network membership.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adams, J. (1990) “Fundamental stocks of knowledge and productivity growth”, Journal of Political Economy, 98, 673–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akerlof, G. and Shiller, R. (2009) Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why it Matters for Global Capitalism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Albert, R. and Barabasí, A. (2002) “Statistical mechanics of complex networks”, Review of Modern Physics, 74, 47–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C.A. and Godfrey, S.S. (1987) “Thoughts about actions: the effects of specificity and availability of imagined behavioral scripts on expectations about oneself and others”, Social Cognition, 5, 238–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arena, R. and Conein, B. (2008) “On virtual communities: individual motivations, reciprocity and we-rationality”, International Review of Economics, 55, 185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Argote, L. and Ingram, P. (2000) “Knowledge transfer: a basis for competitive advantage in firms”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 82, 150–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arthur, B. (1999) “Complexity and the economy”, Science, 284, 107–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagwell, L. and Bernheim, D. (1996) “Veblen effects in a theory of conspicuous consumption”, American Economic Review, 86, 349–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barabasí, A. and Bonabeau, E. (2003) “Scale free networks”, Scientific American, 288, 60–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barro, R. and Sala-i-Martin, X. (1992) “Public finance in models of economic growth”, Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper, 630, 37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bean, C. (1986) “The estimation of ‘surprise’ models and the ‘surprise’ consumption function”, Review of Economic Studies, LIII, 497–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G., Murphy, K. and Werning, I. (2005) “The equilibrium distribution of income and the market for status”, Journal of Political Economy, 113, 283–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bem, D. (1972) “ Self-perception theory”, in Berkowitz L. (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 6, pp. 1–62 (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernheim, B. and Shoven, J. (1991) National Savings and Economic Performance (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhaduri, A. (2006) “Endogenous economic growth: a new approach”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 30, 69–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birke, D. (2009) “The economics of networks: A survey of the empirical literature”, Journal of Economic Surveys, 23, 762–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birke, D. and Swann, G. (2006) “Network effects and the choice of mobile phone operator”, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 16, 65–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bisin, A. and Topa, G. (2003) “Empirical models of cultural transmission”, Journal of the European Economic Association, 1, 363–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bisin, A. and Verdier, T. (2001) “The economics of cultural transmission and the dynamics of preferences”, Journal of Economic Theory, 97, 298–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boileau, M. and Normandin, M. (2002) “Aggregate employment, real business cycles, and superior information”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 49, 495–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boileau, M. and Normandin, M. (2003) “Labor hoarding, superior information, and business cycle dynamics”, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 28, 397–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1984 [1979]) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brass, D. (1984) “Being in the right place: a structural analysis of individual influence in an organization”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 29, 518–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock, W. and Durlauf, S. (2001) “Discrete choice with social interactions”, Review of Economic Studies, 68, 235–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (2000) Group Processes: Dynamics Within and Between Groups, 2nd edn (Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, M. (2002) Small World: Uncovering Nature’s Hidden Networks (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson).

    Google Scholar 

  • Caballero, R. and Jaffe, A. (1993) “How high are the giant’s shoulders: an empirical assessment of knowledge spill-overs and creative destruction in a model”, in Blanchard, O.J. and Fischer, S. (eds) NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1993, pp.15–73 (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, B. (2003) “Stigler-Becker versus Myers-Briggs: why preference-based explanations are scientifically meaningful and empirically important”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 50, 391–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society (Oxford: Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chao, A. and Shor, J. (1998) “Empirical tests of status consumption: evidence from women’s cosmetics”, Journal of Economic Psychology, 19, 107–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, C., Lee, M. and Rabjohn, N. (2008) “The impact of electronic word-of-mouth: the adoption of online opinions in online customer communities”, Internet Research, 18, 229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chevalier, A., Harmon, C., Walker, I. and Zhu, Y. (2004) “Does education raise productivity, or just reflect it?”, Economic Journal, 114, F499–F518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coe, D., Helpman, E. and Hoffmaister, A. (2009) “International R&D spill-overs and institutions”, European Economic Review, 53, 723–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cont, R. and Tanimura, E. (2008) Small world graphs: characterization and alternative constructions, Advances in Applied Probability, 40, 939–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cordes, C. (2009) “Changing your role models: social learning and the Engel curve”, Journal of Socio-Economics, 38, 957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corneo, G. and Jeanne, O. (1997) “Snobs, bandwagons and the origin of social customs in consumer behavior”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 32, 333–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, R., Cowan, W. and Swan, P. (2004) “Waves in consumption with interdependence among consumers”, Canadian Journal of Economics, 37, 149–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowen, T. (1989) “Are all tastes constant and identical? A critique”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 11, 127–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Valck, K., van Bruggen, G. and Wierenga, B. (2009) “Virtual communities: a marketing perspective”, Decision Support Systems, 47, 185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delre, S., Jager, W. and Janssen, M. (2007) “Diffusion dynamics in small-world networks with heterogenous consumers”, Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory, 13, 185–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devarajan, S., Swaroop, V. and Zou, H. (1996) “The composition of public expenditure and economic growth”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 37, 313–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickerson, C. (2004) “Random trouble”, InfoWorld, 34, 24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorlean, P. (2006) “Actor network utilities and network evolution”, Social Networks, 28, 137–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzioni, A. (1993) “ Normative-affective choices”, Human Relations, 46: 1053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrer, A. (2005) “Signalling, inequality and the social structure”, Economica, 72, 515–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, S. (2006) “Tangled webs: tracing the connections between genes and cognition”, Cognition, 101, 270–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foin, T. and Davis, W. (1987) “Equilibrium and nonequilibrium models in ecological anthropology evaluation of ‘stability’ in mating ecosystems in New Guinea”, American Anthropologist, 89, 9–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, R. (1985) Choosing the Right Pond (New York: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gladwell, M. (2002) The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Boston: Little, Brown).

    Google Scholar 

  • Glattfelder, J.B. and Battiston, S. (2009) “Backbone of complex networks of corporations: the flow of control”, Physical Review E, 80, 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goeree, J., Palfrey, T., Rogers, B. and McKelvey, R. (2007) “ Self-correcting information cascades”, Review of Economic Studies, 74, 733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, J., Libai, B. and Muller, E. (2001) “Talk of the network: a complex systems look at the underlying process of word-of-mouth”, Marketing Letters, 12, 211–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golineli, R. and Parigi, G. (2004) “Consumer sentiment and economic activity: a cross country comparison”, Journal of Business Cycle Measurement and Analysis, 2, 7–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grusec, J. and Kuczynski, L. (1997) Parenting and Children’s Internalization of Values: A Handbook of Contemporary Theory (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley).

    Google Scholar 

  • Harkola, J. and Greve, A. (1995) “Diffusion of technology: cohesion or structural equivalence”, Academy of Management Journal, 442–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellmann, T. and Perotti, E. (2006) “The circulation of ideas: firms versus markets”, CEPR Discussion Papers, 5469.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, L., House, M. and Mullady, J. (2008) “Do recommendations matter? Social networks, trust, and product adoption”, Agribusiness, 24, 332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houthakker, H. and Taylor, L. (1970) Consumer Demand in the United States: Analysis and Projections (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, M. (2003) “A survey of models of network formation: stability and efficiency”, in Demange, G. and Wooders, M. (eds) Group Formation in Economics: Networks, Clubs, and Coalitions(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, M. and Wolinsky, A. (1996) “A strategic model of social and economic networks”, Journal of Economic Theory, 71, 244–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katona, G., Strumpel, B. and Zahn, E. (1971) Aspirations and Affluence (New York: McGraw-Hill).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanfer, R. (1989) “Conative processes, dispositions and behavior: connecting the dots within and across paradigms”, in Kanfer, R., Ackerman, P. and Cudek, R. (eds) Abilities, Motivation and Methodology (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H.H. (1987a [1971]) “Attribution in social interaction”, in Jones, E.E., Kanouse, D.E., Kelley, H.H., Nisbett, R.E., Valins, S. and Weiner, B. (eds) Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior, pp. 1–26 (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H.H. (1987b [1971]) “Causal schemata and the attribution process”, in Jones, E.E., Kanouse, D.E., Kelley, H.H., Nisbett, R.E., Valins, S. and Weiner, B. (eds) Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior, pp. 151–74 (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum).

    Google Scholar 

  • Keuschnigg, C. (2004) “Venture Capital Backed Growth”, Journal of Economic Growth, 9, 239–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knafo, A. and Plomin, R. (2006) “Prosocial behavior from early to middle childhood: genetic and environmental influences on stability and change”, Developmental Psychology, 42, 771–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen, T. (2008) “Reference groups and variable risk strategies”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 66, 22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohn, M. and Slomcyznski, K. (1990) Social Structure, Work and Personality (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Krapivsky, P.L., Redner, S. and Leyvraz, F.A. (2000) “Connectivity of growing random networks”, Physical Review Letters, 85, 4629–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuenzel, J. and Musters, P. (2007) “Social interaction and low involvement products”, Journal of Business Research, 60, 876.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunst, L. and Kratzer, J. (2007) “Diffusion of innovations through social networks of children”, Young Consumers, 8, 36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuperman, M. and Zanette, D. (2002) “Stochastic resonance in a model of opinion formation on small world networks”, European Physical Journal B, 26, 387–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, S., Meng, M., and Ma, H., (2004) “Epidemic spreading in dynamic small world networks”, Arxiv preprint nlin/0411017, 2004 -arxiv.org.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, N. (1999) “Building a network theory of social capital”, Connections, 22, 28–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loch, C., Huberman, B. and Stout, S. (2000) “Status competition and performance in work groups”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 43, 35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machlup, F. (1984) The Economics of Information and Human Capital (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Manski, C. (2000) “Economic analysis of social interactions”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14, 115–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massini, S., Lewin, A. and Greve, H. (2005) “Innovators and imitators: organizational reference groups and adoption of organizational routines”, Research Policy, 34, 1550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng, Q. and Velasco, A. (2004) “Market imperfections and the instability of open economies”, Journal of International Economics, 64, 503–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, C. and Newman, M. (1999) “Epidemics and percolation in small-world networks”, Physical Review E, 61, 5678–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morone, P, and Taylor, R. (2004) “Knowledge diffusion dynamics and network properties of face-to-face interactions”, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 14, 327–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer, J.T. and Simmons, R.G. (1978) “Adult socialization”, in Sorensen, A., Sherrod, L. and Weiner, F. (eds) Human Development and the Life Course: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, pp. 199–216 (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum).

    Google Scholar 

  • Oikonomou, P. and Cluzel, P. (2006) “Effects of topology on network evolution”, Nature Physics 2, 532–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olri, F. (2003) “Cellular automata and their application”, Osaka Economic Papers, v. 53, iss. 3, pp. 27–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padoa-Schioppa, F. (1990) “A discussion of Italian employment in the private sector, 1960-84, combining traditional concepts and disequilibrium macroeconomics”, in Dreze, Jacques H. and Bean, Charles R. (eds) Europe’s Unemployment Problem (Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Palka, W., Pousttchi, K. and Wiedemann, D. (2009) “Mobile word-of-mouth – a grounded theory of mobile viral marketing”, Journal of Information Technology, 24, 172–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennock, D.M., Flake, G.W., Lawrence, S., Glover, E.J., Giles, C.L. (2002). “Winners don’t take all: characterizing the competition for links on the web”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99 (8): 5207–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pentina, I., Prybutok, V.R., Zhang, X. (2008) “Role of virtual communities as shopping reference groups”, Journal of Electronic Communication Research, 9, 114–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, S., Schwaninger, M. and Trimble, C. (2001) “Measurement and control of business processes”, System Dynamics Review, 1, 63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieskamp, J., Busemeyer, J. and Mellers, B. (2006) “Extending the bounds of rationality: evidence and theories of preferential choice”, Journal of Economic Literature, 44, 631–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohlfs, J. (2001) Bandwagon Effects in High Technology Industries (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, E. (2000) The Anatomy of Buzz (New York: Doubleday).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosser, J.B. (ed.) (2004) Complexity in Economics (Aldershot: Edward Elgar).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryder, H. and Heal, G. (1973) “Optimal growth with inter-temporally dependent preferences”, Review of Economic Studies, 40, 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schelling, T. (1978) Micromotives and Macrobehavior (New York: Norton).

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W.R. (2001) Institutions and Organizations, 2nd edn (London: Sage).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shankar, K. and Bayus, B. (2003) “Network effects and competition: an empirical analysis of the home video game industry”, Strategic Management Journal, 24, 375–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J. (1995) “Smart cities: quality of life, productivity and the growth effects of human capital”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 88, 324–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver, S. (2002) Status Through Consumption: Dynamics of Consuming in Structured Environments (Boston and Dordrecht, NL: Kluwer Academic Publishers).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Silver, S. and Verbrugge, R. (2010) “Home production and endogenous economic growth”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 75, 297–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slovic, P. (1995) “The construction of preference”, American Psychologist, 50, 364–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, B. and Varzi, A. (2002) “Surrounding space: the ontology of organism-environment relations”, Theory in Biosciences, 121, 139–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T., Coyle, J., Lightfoot, E. and Scott, A. (2007) “Reconsidering models of influence: the relationship between consumer social networks and word-of-mouth effectiveness”, Journal of Advertising Research, 47, 387–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sugden, R. (1998) “Normative expectations: the simultaneous evolution of institutions and norms”, in Sugden, R. (ed.) Economics, Values, and Organization, pp. 73–100, (Cambridge: New York and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Todd, P. and Gigerenzer, G. (2003) “Bounding rationality to the world”, Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 143–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trajtenberg, M., Henderson, R. and Jaffe, A. (1997) “University versus corporate patents: a window on the business of invention”, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 5, 19–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trusov, M., Bucklin, R. and Pauwels, K. (2009) “Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: findings from an internet social networking site”, Journal of Marketing, 73, 90–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turcotte, D. and Rundle, J. (2002) “Self organized complexity in the physical, biological and social sciences”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 99, 2463–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, G. and Pitcher, T. (1986) “Attack abatement: a model for group protection by combined avoidance and dilution”, The American Naturalist, 128, 228–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • US Bureau of Economic Analysis (2009) US National Income and Product Accounts (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office).

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (2009) National Accounts Statistics: Main Aggregates and Detailed Tables, Part I and II (New York: United Nations Publications).

    Google Scholar 

  • Veblen, T. (1994 [1904]) Theory of the Leisure Class (New York: Dover).

    Google Scholar 

  • Verba, S., Schlozman, K. and Brady, H. (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Volunteerism in American Politics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, A. and Tampubolon, G. (2002) “Social capital, networks and leisure consumption”, Sociological Review, 50, 155–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts, D. (1999) Small World (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts, D. and Strogatz, S. (1998) “Collective dynamics of small-world networks”, Nature, 393, 440–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (1968 [1922]) Economy and Society (edited by Roth, G. and Wittich, C.) (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenner, M. (2008) “Bring in the noise”, Scientific American, 299, 20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winterbottom, M.R. (1958) “The relation of need achievement to learning experiences in independence and mastery”, in Atkinson, J.W. (ed.) Motives in Fantasy, Action and Society (Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wojnicki, A. and Jia, N. (2007) “Balance and word-of-mouth communication: a signed digraph analysis of consumers’ cognitive networks”, Advances in Consumer Research, 35, 607.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfram, S. (1984) “Cellular automata as models of complexity”, Nature, 311, 419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie, D. (1998) “An endogenous growth model with expanding ranges of consumer goods and producer durables”, International Economic Review, 39, 439–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, S. and Allenby, G. (2003) “Modeling interdependent consumer preferences”, Journal of Marketing Research, 40, 282–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yizhaq, H., Portnou, B. and Meron, E. (2004) “A mathematical model of segregation patterns in residential neighborhoods”, Environment and Planning A, 36: 149–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Steven D. Silver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2012 Steven D. Silver

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Silver, S.D. (2012). Introduction. In: Networked Consumers. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230362550_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation