Impact of individual behavior adoption heterogeneity on epidemic transmission in multiplex networks

Abstract

In recent years, the impact of information diffusion and individual behavior adoption patterns on epidemic transmission in complex networks has received significant attention. In the immunization behavior adoption process, different individuals often make behavioral decisions in different ways, and it is of good practical importance to study the influence of individual heterogeneity on the behavior adoption process. In this paper, we propose a three-layer coupled model to analyze the process of co-evolution of official information diffusion, immunization behavior adoption and epidemic transmission in multiplex networks, focusing on individual heterogeneity in behavior adoption patterns. Specifically, we investigate the impact of the credibility of social media and the risk sensitivity of the population on behavior adoption in further study of the effect of heterogeneity of behavior adoption on epidemic transmission. Then we use the microscopic Markov chain approach to describe the dynamic process and capture the evolution of the epidemic threshold. Finally, we conduct extensive simulations to prove our findings. Our results suggest that enhancing the credibility of social media can raise the epidemic transmission threshold, making it effective at controlling epidemic transmission during the dynamic process. In addition, improving an individuals’ risk sensitivity, and thus their taking effective protective measures, can also reduce the number of infected individuals and delay the epidemic outbreak. Our study explores the role of individual heterogeneity in behavior adoption in real networks, more clearly models the effect of the credibility of social media and risk sensitivity of the population on the epidemic transmission dynamic, and provides a useful reference for managers to formulate epidemic control and prevention policies.