Analysis of the influence of Information Impacts on the Choice of Diet by Russian residents based on an Agent-based model

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the influence of information influences on the choice of diet by residents in an agent-based model of the dynamics of the spread of anemia. The structure of the model is presented, the interrelations of agents with the socio-economic environment through the channels of employment, consumption and receiving benefits from the state are determined. Two main channels of information impact are considered: advertising and thematic content. Through these channels, three types of influences are distributed in the model: “motivating”, “frightening” and “tempting”. Their influence is modeled using the algorithms presented in the article for informational impact and changes in the food pattern. To reflect the differences in the degree of exposure of agents to the influence of information influences, the concept of a cluster of social activity is introduced. As part of experimental studies, a comparison was made of the number of residents who adhere to a balanced diet in the absence of informational influences, with advertising with a coverage of 20% to 80% and thematic content with motivating and frightening effects. The resulting forecasts were compared with the forecast in the absence of advertising. In the absence of information impacts of other types, advertising with a coverage of more than 60% leads to a decrease in the number of residents adhering to diet No. 1 by 10%, and with a coverage of 80%, the drop is already 19%. The presence of thematic content with a coverage of 5% makes it possible to compensate for the negative effects of advertising, and with an increase in coverage to 20%, the number of residents adhering to diet No. 1 grows by 20% compared to the base case in the absence of any information impact.