Network structure influence on simulated network interventions for behaviour change

Abstract

We simulated diffusion of behaviour change over fifteen real-world networks with seven network interventions under both simple and complex contagion. We found that structural network properties affect both the diffusion outcome and the relative effectiveness of the different interventions, with confounding effects that were inconsistent with results expected from mathematical analysis. These results suggest that comprehensive studies are needed to identify the effects of structural properties on diffusion in real-world networks. Further, researchers attempting to identify the effect of individual properties must measure a range of properties to avoid incorrect attribution.