Values are central concepts across all social sciences. Communication and media research, however, has not systematically contributed to the field. Merja Mahrt addresses questions on the relationship between mediated value patterns and values of the audience. What role do values play in selective exposure? How are genre and channel preferences intertwined with individual values? What changes does the drastic expansion of a media system bring about? The author analyzes large-scale representative surveys, covering German media users from 1986 to 2007. She finds patterns linking social and materialist values with preferences and usages of print and electronic media. Implications for the role of values in behavior and in media planning are discussed.
This book is essential reading for researchers and students from the social sciences, in particular communication and media sciences, interested in a deeper understanding of values.

Merja Mahrt is a research associate at the Department of Social Sciences at Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf. Her research interests include social settings, functions and effects of mass communication.