Agent-based modeling for new product introduction using Twitter

In less than 4 years since its introductions, Twitter has become the fastest growing social networking tool. Working very much the same as a blog, it has been used widely by businesses as well as individuals to share information, introduce new product/idea, etc. Using Twitter, a person has the choice whether or not to forward (re-tweet) the message from/to his/her friends or social networks that he/she belongs to. There are some factors which affect the decision to retweet or not a message, besides the speed in forwarding the messages which believed to follow the Diffusion of Innovations model. In the case of new product introduction using Twitter, an online survey has been conducted to obtain the factors which affect the decision and timing to retweet the message or not. On the other hand, the independent and autonomous behavior of members in a social network such as Twitter satisfies the characteristics of Agent Based Simulation model. Using NetLogo software, this paper aims to disclose the result of an Agent Based Simulation model which showed when and why a person will or will not re-tweet a message that he/she received from his/her friends or social networks that he / she belongs to by applying the concept of Diffusion of Innovations.