Guido Zurstiege

Guido Zurstiege is a Professor of Media Studies with a focus on Empirical Media Research at the University of Tübingen's Institute of Media Studies within the Faculty of Philosophy. His academic work centers on advertising, media culture, communication theory, and reception studies, with recent emphasis on media abstinence and disconnection studies in the digital age. He maintains an active research profile with numerous publications spanning multiple decades.

Zurstiege's research interests encompass advertising and corporate communication, media culture, media and communication theory, reception and impact research, health communication, and forms of media abstinence (disconnection studies). His work investigates how media shapes society while examining contemporary phenomena like digital detox practices and the societal implications of media withdrawal. His theoretical approach integrates systems theory, constructivism, and mediatization theories to understand the complex relationship between media, culture, and society.

His publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output across multiple domains of media studies, with a particular focus on advertising research and media theory. Recent publications (2015-2019) show a clear trajectory toward examining media abstinence and disconnection in the digital era, reflecting contemporary societal concerns about digital saturation. His work spans theoretical explorations of media systems alongside empirical investigations of advertising practices and media consumption patterns.

Zurstiege actively supervises doctoral students including Gamze Damat (researching media abstinence in mediatized society), Susanne Janusch (examining extensions of man in connectivity and automation), and Matthias Röck (studying strategies of de-mediatization and social media refusal). He serves as a peer reviewer for major communication journals and participates in European research networks including ECREA and ICORIA. As co-founder of the Advertising Communication Working Group in the German Society for Communication Science, he has helped shape advertising research in German-speaking academia.