Policy and Complex Systems - Volume 3 Number 2 - Fall 2017
Citizen-centric Government Services Ecosystem : An Agent-based Approach to the Theory of Planned Behavior
James R . Thompson , Trevor Caskey , Alison Dingwall , Zoe Henscheid A
Abstract
To illustrate the potential benefits and challenges of modeling theories of human behavior in the face of messaging campaigns , we employ an agent-based model that captures individual decision-making of agents interacting with social and environmental pressures . Messaging campaigns are often based on demographic or regional data with the assumption that all members of a given cohort will behave the same . Conversely , Ajzen ’ s Theory of Planned Behavior ( TPB ) suggests that behavioral intent is driven by internal attitude , perception of social normative pressures , and perception of control , which are generally heterogeneous across a given population . We present a general framework for modeling individual behavioral intent as a function of these factors and embed the framework in a model of the environment that both pressures agents to act and responds to the actions they take . We analyze the effects of message timing on average behavioral intent , as well as the impact that influential figures have when speaking out in favor of the messaging campaign . The model provides a baseline for operationalizing the TPB in a format that can be replicated and expanded upon in future research .
Keywords : theory of planned behavior , agent-based modeling , computational social science , behavioral intent
A
MITRE Corporation
196 doi : 10.18278 / jpcs . 3.2.11