Reflexive digital twins and behavioral governance in data-driven systems

Reflexive digital twins and behavioral governance in data-driven systems | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Reflexive digital twins and behavioral governance in data-driven systems Atantra Das Gupta This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8688204/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Digital twins are increasingly used to model and optimise complex systems, yet their behavioural and institutional implications remain fragmented across disciplines. Here, we develop Reflexive Digital Twin Marketing Theory (RDTMT), conceptualising marketing as a socio-technical learning system that co-evolves with consumers, algorithms, and governance arrangements through continuous feedback. Using an Empirics-First approach, we conduct a PRISMA-ScR–guided scoping review across Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar (2010–2025), identifying 742 records and synthesising 55 studies at the intersection of healthcare digital twins, marketing analytics, and ethical AI governance. Co-occurrence mapping (VOS) reveals four convergent clusters—continuous synchronisation, adaptive intelligence, reflexive governance, and societal co-evolution—indicating that “twin-like” systems reshape behaviour by structuring how people are represented, predicted, and acted upon. Building on these regularities, RDTMT introduces three constructs—Digital Reflexivity, Ethical Feedback Elasticity and the Value Coherence Index—to explain when predictive personalisation aligns with stakeholder trust and social legitimacy. This framework reframes marketing not as unidirectional influence but as reflexive governance in data-rich environments, offering testable propositions for responsible behavioural prediction and feedback-driven institutional design. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Communication Social science/Science, technology and society Live marketing Ethical AI Stakeholder Co-Evolution Marketing Analytics Theoretical Abstraction Value Coherence Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8688204","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":580257987,"identity":"46f60423-2c1a-4f47-8436-f497944cecb5","order_by":0,"name":"Atantra Das Gupta","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADxn4JMC0hQ1gtGxAfAGqZOYOBsQGohYd4LRtugLUwENbCP7/52eOPe+xkN99uPv7oRo0FDwP74aMb8GmROMZmbnDgWbLxtjvHEptzjgEdxpOWdgOvNccYzCQOHGBO3HYjx7A5hw2oRYLHDK8W+WPs34Ba6hM3zwBp+UeEFoNjPCBbDidukABqyW0jQovhsZwyiTMHjhvPuJGWODu3T4KHjZBf5A4f3yZRcaBatn9G8oHPOd/q5PjZDx/D730MwEaa8lEwCkbBKBgF2AAALZVL5pfSMfgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Management Development Institute","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Atantra","middleName":"Das","lastName":"Gupta","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-24 16:50:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8688204/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8688204/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102298604,"identity":"40885ba7-9475-40ce-a3dd-924a485e938f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-10 10:52:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1583224,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"RDTMTSubmissiom.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8688204/v1_covered_80bd3a58-83b3-445c-aa4e-51b86e272d4e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Reflexive digital twins and behavioral governance in data-driven systems","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Live marketing, Ethical AI, Stakeholder Co-Evolution, Marketing Analytics, Theoretical Abstraction, Value Coherence","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8688204/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8688204/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Digital twins are increasingly used to model and optimise complex systems, yet their behavioural and institutional implications remain fragmented across disciplines. 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