A new instrument, "chain tags," has been devised for getting measurable data on message diffusion. A dramatic and controllable method of starting the diffusion process, it can isolate, vary, or hold constant the maximum for each of the following varibles, alone or in combination as desired: number of starters; number of eventual hearers; the acts-per-actor-per-remove or period, area, and population within which diffusion takes place; the number of removes; the interperson distances and periods. This study illustrates the usefulness of the chain-tags technique in testing a theoretical model of one-way human interacting and comparing the strength of different motivations to diffuse a message.
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Stuart C. Dodd (1956) studied this question.