Discovering critical situations in online social networks – a neuro fuzzy approach to alert marketing managers

Abstract

More and more people are exchanging their opinions in online social networks and influencing each other. It is crucial for companies to observe opinion formation concerning their products. Thus, risks can be recognized early on and counteractive measures can be initiated by marketing managers. A neuro fuzzy approach is presented which allows the detection of critical situations in the process of opinion formation and the alerting of marketing managers. Rules for identifying critical situations are learned on the basis of the opinions of the network members, the influence of the opinion leaders and the structure of the network. The opinions and characteristics of the network are identified by text mining and social network analysis. The approach is illustrated by an exemplary application.