Measurement of Media Exposure

Abstract

Media exposure is a crucial prerequisite for media effects: People must first be exposed to media content if it is to influence them. Yet, despite media exposure's centrality in communication research, there is little scholarly consensus on how best to measure it. Moreover, today's media landscape, in which fragmented audiences are exposed to media messages from myriad sources, makes accurately capturing exposure even more challenging. Three major approaches to media exposure measurement can be identified in the communication literature: (i) survey measures of self‐reported exposure, (ii) ecological measures of potential exposure, and (iii) hybrid measures that combine the two. Because each of these approaches has its strengths and weaknesses, researchers may be well advised to use them in concert to best capture media exposure. More scholarly efforts are needed to improve the reliability and validity of exposure measurement.