An agent-based model representing the exchanges of arguments to accurately simulate the process of innovation diffusion

Abstract

An approach that is particularly well adapted to study the dynamics of adoption and diffusion of innovations is agent-based simulation. It allows modelers to take into account the complex interactions between actors as well as their heterogeneity. Numerous works have already shown the interest of this method for the study of innovation diffusion processes. However, the vast majority of these works have been limited to an abstract and simplified representation of this process. This very abstract representation does not allow users to understand and explain the reasons for the change of opinion of an agent, which is nevertheless fundamental to understanding the dynamics of innovation diffusion. In order to overcome this limitation, we propose an agent-based model of adoption and diffusion of innovations that uses a structured argumentation framework. An application of this model is proposed to study the diffusion of communicating water meters by farmers on the Louts river (South-West of France) and shows that the introduction of new arguments could impact the adoption process.