Meanings
nounnetwork effect (plural network effects)
plural network effects
- economicsThe higher growth rate of businesses with higher market share in those segments of economy in which the value of a product or service depends on the compounding effects of the number of existing users of the product or a service, as is the case with telephone networks.
Aided by preferential attachment and network effects (the phenomenon of a good or service becoming more valuable the more people who use it), a handful of winners emerge, overshadowing other available options.
2014, Astra Taylor, chapter 4, in The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 網絡效應 /网络效应
- 網絡效應 /网络效应 (wǎngluò xiàoyìng)higher growth rate
Finnish verkostovaikutus
- verkostovaikutushigher growth rate
French effet de réseau
- effet de réseauhigher growth rate
German Netzwerkeffekt
- Netzwerkeffekthigher growth rate
Japanese ネットワーク外部性
- ネットワーク外部性 (nettowākugaibusei)higher growth rate
Korean 네트워크 효과
- 네트워크 효과 (neteuwokeu hyogwa)higher growth rate
Swedish nätverkseffekt
- nätverkseffekthigher growth rate
Cite this entry
APA
network effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/network%20effect
MLA
“network effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/network%20effect. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “network effect,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/network%20effect.
Source: network effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.