The application of agent-based modelling for the diffusion of innovation research: a case study

Abstract

Agent-based modelling (ABM) is considered as an important technique to study innovation diffusion and has been increasingly applied in the diffusion of innovation activities. This study investigates the opportunities to adopt ABM to diffuse innovation in a construction company in Oman, engaged in an innovative project to construct a prestigious integrated township. It proposes a new innovation diffusion model that simulates the social interactions between agents and how that interaction influences the agent's (visitors) adoption decisions. The application of ABM in this case project is analysed through MATLAB simulation software. The result from the study shows how a more complex model of a society can be implemented in a commonly used platform. The simulation results showed how the proposed model can actually mimic the expected behaviour of a complex system where static characteristics of agents such as nationality and age may influence the dynamic characteristics such as talking and frequency of visiting a certain location, which enhances the rate of decisions making process.