Clustering of sparse data via network communities -- a prototype study of a large online market

DOI10.1088/1742-5468/2007/06/P06016zbMATH Open1459.91116arXivphysics/0503138MaRDI QIDQ5239369FDOQ5239369

Authors: Jörg Reichardt, Stefan Bornholdt 

Publication date: 22 October 2019

Published in: Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Market segmentation of an online auction site is studied by analyzing the users' bidding behavior. The distribution of user activity is investigated and a network of bidders connected by common interest in individual articles is constructed. The network's cluster structure corresponds to the main user groups according to common interest, exhibiting hierarchy and overlap. Key feature of the analysis is its independence of any similarity measure between the articles offered on eBay, as such a measure would only introduce bias in the analysis. Results are compared to null models based on random networks and clusters are validated and interpreted using the taxonomic classifications of eBay categories. We find clear-cut and coherent interest profiles for the bidders in each cluster. The interest profiles of bidder groups are compared to the classification of articles actually bought by these users during the time span 6-9 months after the initial grouping. The interest profiles discovered remain stable, indicating typical interest profiles in society. Our results show how network theory can be applied successfully to problems of market segmentation and sociological milieu studies with sparse, high dimensional data.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0503138

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zbMATH Keywords

networksrandom graphssocio-economic networksnew applications of statistical mechanicsonline dynamics

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Random graphs (graph-theoretic aspects) (05C80) Auctions, bargaining, bidding and selling, and other market models (91B26) Social networks; opinion dynamics (91D30) Applications of statistical and quantum mechanics to economics (econophysics) (91B80)

Cites Work

• Community structure in social and biological networks
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• Exploring complex networks
• Random graph models of social networks
• Study of the phase transition in the 3D Ising spin glass from out-of-equilibrium numerical simulations

Cited In (19)

• Multilayer modularity belief propagation to assess detectability of community structure
• Relating modularity maximization and stochastic block models in multilayer networks
• Community detection in attributed networks for global transfer market
• Convex relaxation methods for community detection
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• E-loyalty networks in online auctions
• Characterizing brain connectivity from human electrocorticography recordings with unobserved inputs during epileptic seizures
• Distance-based clustering of sparsely observed stochastic processes, with applications to online auctions
• Clustering via the modified Petford-Welsh algorithm
• Community detection in temporal multilayer networks, with an application to correlation networks
• BI-COMMUNITY DETECTION METHOD BASED ON BOTH INTRA- AND INTER-CORRELATION: AN APPLIED RESEARCH OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
• A random effects stochastic block model for joint community detection in multiple networks with applications to neuroimaging
• Fast multi-scale detection of overlapping communities using local criteria
• Identifying vortical network connectors for turbulent flow modification
• Interpretation of the precision matrix and its application in estimating sparse brain connectivity during sleep spindles from human electrocorticography recordings
• Flow-Based Community Detection in Hypergraphs
• A classification for community discovery methods in complex networks
• Moments of uniform random multigraphs with fixed degree sequences
• Detecting Hierarchical Communities in Networks: A New Approach

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