Media content sharing as a value-based decision

Exposure to media content (e.g. persuasive campaigns) affects daily behaviors, but these effects are partially determined by whether and how people who are exposed to the content share it with their peers. To decide whether to share, potential sharers need to compare and integrate diverse sources of information including characteristics of the media content and various social influences. What are the mechanisms that enable sharers to make such complex decisions quickly and effortlessly? We review evidence that sharing is preceded by a value-based decision-making process supported by three key characteristics of the so-called neural valuation system (domain-generality, value integration, and context-dependence). Finally, we describe theoretical and methodological advances that can be gained from conceptualizing sharing as a value-based decision-making process.