Opinion dynamics in social network under competition: the role of influencing factors in consensus reaching

The profitability of opinion and the finiteness of individual attention have already spawned the extensive competition for individual preferences on social networks. It's quite necessary to investigate the opinion dynamics over social networks in a competitive environment. To this point, this paper develops a novel social network DeGroot model based on competition game (DGCG) to characterize the opinion evolution in a competitive opinion dynamics. Based on the DGCG model, we obtain equilibrium results in the stable state of opinion evolution. Consecutively, we analyze what role relevant factors play in the final consensus and competitive outcomes, including the resource ratio of both contestants, initial opinions and network structure. Theoretical analyses and simulation experiments show that these factors can significantly sway the consensus and even reverse competition outcomes.