Opinion evolution in the presence of constant propaganda: Homogeneous and localized cases

Abstract

The opinion evolution of a group of agents arranged in a square lattice in the presence of external constant propaganda is studied. The contagion between agents is modeled according to the voter model, but the effect of external propaganda and a social temperature is also considered. At a first stage, the influence of the contagion probability, the temperature, and the value of the propaganda are analyzed for a homogeneous application of this last parameter. An analytical expression was found for the stationary state in some cases. Also, the effect of the spatial location of the propaganda is analyzed, where it is applied only to a subset of agents. The random distribution of agents affected by the propaganda was found to be the most effective, while for the case of distribution in patches and stripes, it depends on their size.