A Study on Diffusion of Plural Competing Services in Complex Networks

—Influence of Heterogeneity of Consumer Utility—

Abstract

Service quality is often unstable because of the nature of service delivery systems involving humans. Furthermore, consumers cannot confirm the quality of service before purchase because service has no shape. For these reason, good service does not always diffuse. Therefore, it is necessary to study diffusion of service by computer simulations to clarify the process of acceptance among consumers. This paper presents a multiagent-based model for diffusion of plural services including heterogeneity of consumer utility in complex networks. It is verified that the heterogeneity of consumer utility and network structure affect service diffusion process in the results of computer simulations. In the result, it is revealed that the service that consumer utility is more heterogeneous wins in the competition in the market, but the diffusion rate lowers.