American Economic Journal:
Microeconomics
ISSN 1945-7669 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7685 (Online)
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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