Gad Saad (; ar, جاد سعد; born 13 October 1964) is a Canadian marketing professor at the

John Molson School of Business The John Molson School of Business, commonly known as John Molson, is a business school located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The John Molson School of Business was established in 1974 by Concordia University. Programs Undergraduate programs * ...

at Concordia University. He is known for applying evolutionary psychology to

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

and

consumer behaviour Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and p ...

. He wrote a blog for '' Psychology Today'' and hosts a YouTube channel titled "The Saad Truth".

Early life and education

Saad was born in 1964 in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. His family fled in October 1975 to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, to escape the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. His older brother, David Saad, is a judoka who competed in the men's lightweight event at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

on behalf of Lebanon. He obtained a B.Sc. (mathematics and computer science) and M.B.A. from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. Saad's doctoral adviser was J. Edward Russo, the mathematical and cognitive psychologist and behavioral decision theorist. Saad's nephew is Ariel Helwani, an

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

journalist. Saad is an atheist who describes himself as culturally

Career

Saad has been a professor of marketing at Concordia University since 1994. As of 2020, he holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences and Darwinian Consumption. During this time he has also held visiting professorships at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

, and the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

. He was an associate editor for the journal ''

Evolutionary Psychology Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evol ...

'' from 2012 to 2015. He is an advisory fellow for the

Centre for Inquiry Canada The Centre for Inquiry Canada (CFIC) is a not-for-profit educational organization with headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Canadian organization was founded as a member and volunteer driven organization in 2007. It is the Canadian affili ...

. Saad hosts a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

show titled ''The Saad Truth''. As of February 2021, his channel has received more than 22 million views."Montreal professor known as 'The Gadfather' argues against political correctness"
''Toronto Star'', Giuseppe Valiante. Canadian Press. 30 October 2016 Saad writes a blog for '' Psychology Today'' titled ''Homo Consumericus''.

Research

One line of research that Saad has been exploring is how hormones affect consumers and the decisions they make. Examples of this research include how showy products affect testosterone levels, how testosterone levels affect various forms of risk-taking, and how hormones in the menstrual cycle affect buying decisions. Another line of research has involved gift giving, including how men and women differ in why they give.

Coverage and interviews

Saad has been profiled in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' and his life story was documented by the Télévision française de l'Ontario. His views have also been mentioned in ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', '' Chatelaine'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Saad had been a contributing author for ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. Saad appeared on

Reason TV ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 50,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the ''Chicago Tribune''. History ''Reas ...

in November 2011. In September 2015, Saad was interviewed by TJ Kirk on the '' Drunken Peasants Podcast''. As of 2022, he had been featured on seven episodes of

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American UFC color commentator, podcaster, comedian, actor, and former television presenter. He hosts ''The Joe Rogan Experience'', a podcast in which he discusses current events, comedy, polit ...

's podcast ''

The Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It launched on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and producer unti ...

''. In February 2022,

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

removed 70 episodes of the podcastincluding one where Saad was featuredreportedly at Rogan's own request. Saad has also appeared on

Sam Harris Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics ...

's ''Making Sense'' podcast (then titled ''Waking Up''), '' The Adam Carolla Show'', '' Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria'', and ''

The Rubin Report ''The Rubin Report'' is a conservative political news talk show hosted by Dave Rubin, airing on BlazeTV and YouTube. The full audio of each episode is additionally available for download as a podcast. In the show, Rubin interviews authors, activ ...

''.

Honours and awards

* Distinguished Teaching Award –

(2000)Concordia.ca Profile at Concordia
/ref> * Darwinism Applied Award – Applied Evolutionary Psychology Society (AEPS) (2014)

Bibliography

Books

* Saad, G. (2007). ''The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption''. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. . Book review * Saad, G. (ed.) (2011). ''Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences''. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany. . Book review * Saad, G. (2011). ''The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature''. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. . Book review * Saad, G. (2020). ''The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense''. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing. .

Selected journal articles

* "Sex Differences in the Ultimatum Game: An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective". ''Journal of Bioeconomics''. (2001). * "The Effect of Conspicuous Consumption on Men's Testosterone Levels". ''Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes''. (2009). * "Future of evolutionary psychology". ''Futures''. (2011). * "Evolutionary consumption". ''Journal of Consumer Psychology''. (2013). * "The framing effect when evaluating prospective mates: An adaptationist perspective". ''Evolution and Human Behavior''. (2014).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saad, Gad 1964 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian YouTubers Canadian cognitive scientists Academic staff of Concordia University Conservatism in Canada Cornell University alumni Cornell University faculty Critics of creationism Critics of religions Critics of multiculturalism Critics of postmodernism Dartmouth College faculty Evolutionary psychologists Jews from Quebec Lebanese emigrants to Canada Lebanese Jews Male critics of feminism McGill University Faculty of Management alumni People from Beirut Right-wing politics in Canada Scientists from Montreal Canadian political scientists 20th-century Canadian scientists 21st-century Canadian scientists Secular Jews