How a "Hit" is Born: The Emergence of Popularity from the Dynamics of Collective Choice

Details How a "Hit" is Born: The Emergence of Popularity from the Dynamics of Collective Choice How a "Hit" is Born: The Emergence of Popularity from the Dynamics of Collective Choice

2007-04-23

arxiv.org/abs/0704.2955v1

Econophysics and Sociophysics: Trends and Perspectives, Wiley-VCH, Berlin (2006), Chapter-15, pages: 417-447

Physics

Physics and Society

17 pages, 14 figures, A version of the work is published in Econophysics and Sociophysics: Trends and Perspectives, (eds.) Bik

Scientific paper

10.1002/9783527610006.ch15

In recent times there has been a surge of interest in seeking out patterns in the aggregate behavior of socio-economic systems. One such domain is the emergence of statistical regularities in the evolution of collective choice from individual behavior. This is manifested in the sudden emergence of popularity or "success" of certain ideas or products, compared to their numerous, often very similar, competitors. In this paper, we present an empirical study of a wide range of popularity distributions, spanning from scientific paper citations to movie gross income. Our results show that in the majority of cases, the distribution follows a log-normal form, suggesting that multiplicative stochastic processes are the basis for emergence of popular entities. This suggests the existence of some general principles of complex organization leading to the emergence of popularity. We discuss the theoretical principles needed to explain this socio-economic phenomenon, and present a model for collective behavior that exhibits bimodality, which has been observed in certain empirical popularity distributions.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

How a "Hit" is Born: The Emergence of Popularity from the Dynamics of Collective Choice does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with How a "Hit" is Born: The Emergence of Popularity from the Dynamics of Collective Choice, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and How a "Hit" is Born: The Emergence of Popularity from the Dynamics of Collective Choice will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-195014