Hits and flops dynamics

We discuss the influence of various mechanisms of information contagion on the dynamics of choices in social networks of decision makers. We show that both polling and contagion processes often end up in herding behaviour, with most agents taking uniformly either one view or another, even in disordered systems. In the parameter transition regime, the outcome of the dynamical process depends on the precise instanciation of disorder. For instance, when agents face a ternary choice between similar products A and B with the possibility of taking none, the initial distribution of early buyers drastically influences the outcome of the selection process.