Diversity-induced resonance in a model for opinion formation

We study an opinion formation model that takes into account that individuals have diverse preferences when adopting an opinion regarding a particular issue. We show that the system exhibits diversity-induced resonance [C.J. Tessone et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 194101 (2006)], by which an external influence (for example advertising, or fashion trends) is better followed by populations having the right degree of diversity in their preferences, rather than others where the individuals are identical or have too different preferences. We support our findings by numerical simulations of the model in different network topologies and a mean-field type analytical theory.