A study examined the relationship between social and material values and attitudes toward television advertising. Using the Rokeach Value Survey Form E, 157 Canadian college students ranked the 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in order of their importance as guiding principles for life. The values were classified as either material, social, or neutral. Students' attitudes toward advertising were determined using eight bi-polar word pairs to which they responded on a seven-interval semantic differential scale. Results indicated that subjects who have material values have a more positive perception of advertising on prime-time television and a stronger desire for the lifestyle depicted in advertising. Additionally, those subjects who highly ranked the instrumental value"intellectual" had a more negative attitude toward advertising, while those who highly ranked "polite" had a more positive attitude toward advertising. Results also suggest that television advertising promotes material values at the expense of social values, and therefore, the corporate vision of cultural materialism is enhanced. If public consciousness of personal and mass media value content were raised, then viewers would be better equipped to change personal values or control exposure to materialistic messages. (A three-page reference list and tables are included; values surveys and a survey measuring attitude toward advertising are appended.) (SRT)