Abstract
Discovering communities in a network is a fundamental and important problem to complex networks. Find the most influential actors among its peers is a major task. If on one side, studies on community detection ignore the influence of actors and communities, on the other hand, ignoring the hierarchy and community structure of the network neglect the actor or community influence. We bridge this gap by combining a dynamic community detection method with a dynamic centrality measure. The proposed enhanced dynamic hierarchical community detection method computes centrality for nodes and aggregated communities and selects each community representative leader using the ranked centrality of every node belonging to the community. This method is then able to unveil, track, and measure the importance of main actors, network intra and inter-community structural hierarchies based on a centrality measure. The empirical analysis performed, using two temporal networks shown that the method is able to find and tracking community leaders in evolving networks. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
Purpose: Based on the data obtained from a questionnaire of 595 people, the authors explore the relative importance of consumers, checking whether socioeconomic variables influence their centrality, detecting the communities within the network to which they belong, identifying consumption patterns and checking whether there is any relationship between co-marketing and consumer choices. Design/methodology/approach: A multilayer network is created from data collected through a consumer survey to identify customers’ choices in seven different markets. The authors focus the analysis on a smaller kinship and cohabitation network and apply the LART network community detection algorithm. To verify the association between consumers’ centrality and variables related to their respective socioeconomic profile, the authors develop an econometric model to measure their impact on consumer’s degree centrality. Findings: Based on 595 responses analysing individual consumers, the authors find out which consumers invest and which variables influence consumers’ centrality. Using a smaller sample of 70 consumers for whom they know kinship and cohabitation relationships, the authors detect communities with the same consumption patterns and verify that this may be an adequate way to establish co-marketing strategies. Originality/value: Network analysis has become a widely used technique in the extraction of knowledge on consumers. This paper’s main (and novel) contribution lies in providing a greater understanding on how multilayer networks represent hidden databases with potential knowledge to be considered in business decisions. Centrality and community detection are crucial measures in network science which enable customers with the highest potential value to be identified in a network. Customers are increasingly seen as multidimensional, considering their preferences in various markets. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

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