Influence Campaigns
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
vol. 15,
no. 3, August 2023
(pp. 271-304)
Abstract
Firms and politicians, among others, invest heavily to influence people's opinions. Because peers influence one another, these efforts must account for social networks. Using a model of opinion dynamics with a non-degenerate steady state, I develop a new measure of influence, and I highlight how opinion fluctuations impact influence campaigns. If agents interact less frequently with those holding different opinions, the variance of public opinion decreases. Consequently, a risk-averse planner focuses on persuading a large majority of agents in a small set of tightly knit groups, while a risk-loving planner makes much broader appeals.Citation
Sadler, Evan. 2023. "Influence Campaigns." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 15 (3): 271-304. DOI: 10.1257/mic.20210387Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D11 Consumer Economics: Theory
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- D85 Network Formation and Analysis: Theory
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
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