Gad Saad

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Gad Saad

| image = Gad Saad 2010 JMSB Faculty Portrait 7175 web.jpg

| caption = Saad in 2010

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|10|13|df=y}}

| birth_place = Beirut, Lebanon

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Lebanese, Canadian

| fields = Marketing, consumer behaviour

| workplaces = Concordia University

| education = McGill University (BSc, MBA)
Cornell University (MSc, PhD)

| thesis_title = The adaptive use of stopping policies in sequential consumer choice

| thesis_url = https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/2707797

| thesis_year = 1994

| doctoral_advisor = Edward Russo

| website = {{url|gadsaad.com}}

| module = {{infobox YouTube personality |subbox=yes

| channel_display_name = GadSaad

| channel_id = UCLH7qUqM0PLieCVaHA7RegA

| subscribers = 313 thousand

| views = 34.9 million

| stats_update = August 31, 2024

}}

Gad Saad ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|æ|d|_|ˈ|s|æ|d}}; {{langx|ar|جاد سعد}}, {{Langx|he|גד סעד}}; born 13 October 1964) is a Canadian marketing professor at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University.[http://www.medicaldaily.com/do-great-minds-think-alike-impact-culture-your-creative-thinking-skills-334652 "Do Great Minds Think Alike? The Impact Of Culture On Your Creative Thinking Skills"]. Medical Daily, 22 May 2015 By Lizette Borreli He has argued for applying evolutionary psychology to marketing and consumer behaviour.{{cite news| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/do-human-instincts-explain-what-we-buy-and-why-we-want-it/article586678/ | location=Toronto | work=The Globe and Mail | title=Do human instincts explain what we buy, and why we want it? | date=13 July 2011}}{{cite web |last=Engber |first=Daniel |url=http://www.popsci.com/does-it-feel-better-to-give-or-receive-gift |title=Does It Feel Better To Give Or Receive A Gift? |work=Popular Science |date=17 November 2015 }} He wrote a blog for Psychology Today and hosts a podcast titled "The Saad Truth".

Early life and education

Saad was born in 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon, he is of Lebanese Jewish and Syrian Jewish ancestry.{{Citation |title=On Behalf of My Ancestors and Those of My Wife, Please Accept This Apology (THE SAAD TRUTH_1247) | date=18 May 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOeYmETz1Dw |access-date=2024-02-08 |language=en}} His family fled in October 1975 to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to escape the Lebanese Civil War.{{cite web|url=http://passagestocanada.com/story-profile/?story=1133|title=Story Profile - Passages Canada|work=passagestocanada.com|access-date=22 January 2015|archive-date=28 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928165819/http://passagestocanada.com/story-profile/?story=1133|url-status=dead}} His elder brother, David, is a judoka who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8YjNO7jDAM#t=3m35s|title=Gad Saad on Growing up in Lebanon, the Olympics, and Cultural Homophily|work=The Rubin Report|date=17 August 2016}} His nephew Ariel Helwani is a mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist.{{cite web|url=http://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/montreal-native-mixed-martial-arts-broadcaster|title=Montreal native is a mixed martial arts broadcaster|first=David|last=Lazarus|date=13 January 2011|accessdate=6 August 2018|publisher=The Canadian Jewish News}}

He obtained a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and an M.B.A. in Marketing from McGill University, and an M.S. in Management and a Ph.D. in Marketing from Cornell University.{{cite web|url=http://www.leighbureau.com/speakers/GSaad/|title=Gad Saad|work=leighbureau.com|access-date=22 January 2015|archive-date=22 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122202505/http://www.leighbureau.com/speakers/GSaad/|url-status=dead}}

Saad is an atheist who describes himself as culturally Jewish.{{cite web |last=Zeitlin |first=Alan |date=26 May 2021 |title=Jewish author Gad Saad stares down the growing tide of antisemitism |url=https://m.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/jewish-author-gad-saad-stares-down-the-growing-tide-of-antisemitism-669190/amp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628034421/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/jewish-author-gad-saad-stares-down-the-growing-tide-of-antisemitism-669190 |archive-date=28 June 2021 |access-date=22 August 2022 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}

Career

Saad has been a professor of marketing at Concordia University since 1994. From 2008 until 2018, he held the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences and Darwinian Consumption. He has also held visiting professorships at Cornell University, Dartmouth College, University of California, Irvine and Northwood University (currently). He was an associate editor for the journal Evolutionary Psychology from 2012 to 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/experts/gad-saad-phd|title=Gad Saad Ph.D. | Psychology Today}} He is an advisory fellow for the Centre for Inquiry Canada.{{cite web |title=Gad Saad, PhD |url=https://www.concordia.ca/jmsb/faculty/gad-saad.html |website=Concordia University |access-date=21 June 2020}} Saad wrote a blog for Psychology Today titled Homo Consumericus from 2008 until 2020,{{cite web|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/homo-consumericus|title=Homo Consumericus|work=Psychology Today|access-date=22 November 2024}} and contributed to The Wall Street Journal in 2011.{{cite news| author-last=Saad |author-first=Gad |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/06/21/the-consuming-instinct/ | work=The Wall Street Journal | title=The Consuming Instinct | date=21 June 2011}}

Saad hosts a YouTube show titled The Saad Truth. As of February 2021, his channel has received more than 22 million views.[https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/10/30/montreal-professor-known-as-the-gadfather-argues-against-political-correctness.html "Montreal professor known as 'The Gadfather' argues against political correctness"]. Toronto Star, Giuseppe Valiante. Canadian Press. 30 October 2016

Research

Saad has researched how hormones affect and are affected by consumer behavior, such as how conspicuous consumption affects testosterone levels,{{cite journal|last=Saad|first=Gad|author2=Vongas, John G.|title=The effect of conspicuous consumption on men's testosterone levels|journal=Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes|year=2009|volume=110|issue=2|pages=80–92|doi=10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.06.001}}{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/testosterone-drives-men-to-buy-fast-cars-1.821146 | work=CBC News | title=Testosterone drives men to buy fast cars | date=14 October 2009}} how testosterone levels affect risk-taking,{{cite journal|last=Stenstrom|first=Eric|author2=Saad, Gad |author3=Nepomuceno, Marcelo |author4= Mendenhall, Zack |title=Testosterone and domain-specific risk: Digit ratios (2D:4D and rel2) as predictors of recreational, financial, and social risk-taking behaviours|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|year=2011|volume=51|issue=4|pages=412–416|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2010.07.003}}{{cite journal|last=Stenstrom|first=Eric|author2=Saad, Gad|title=Testosterone, Financial Risk-Taking, and Pathological Gambling|journal=Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics|volume=4|issue=4|pages=254–266|doi=10.1037/a0025963|year=2011}}{{cite web|url=http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/science/2010/11/09/001-testosterone-doigt-risque.shtml|title=Le succès au bout de l'index - ICI.Radio-Canada.ca|work=Radio-Canada.ca|date=9 November 2010 }} and how hormones in the menstrual cycle affect buying decisions.{{cite journal|last=Saad|first=Gad|author2=Stenstrom, Eric|title=Calories, beauty, and ovulation: The effects of the menstrual cycle on food and appearance-related consumption.|journal=Journal of Consumer Psychology|year=2011|doi=10.1016/j.jcps.2011.10.001|volume=22|pages=102–113}}{{cite news| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-geher/post_4521_b_2950069.html | work=Huffington Post | title=8 Dating Lies Men And Women Tell | date=26 March 2013}} He has also researched how men and women differ in gift giving behaviors.{{cite journal|last=Laroche|first=Michel|author2=Saad, Gad |author3=Browne, Elizabeth |author4=Cleveland, Mark |author5= Kim, Chankon |title=Determinants of In-Store Information Search Strategies Pertaining to a Christmas Gift Purchase.|journal=Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences|year=2000|volume=17|issue=1|pages=1–19|doi=10.1111/j.1936-4490.2000.tb00203.x}}{{cite journal|last=Laroche|first=Michel|author2=Saad, Gad |author3=Cleveland, Mark |author4= Browne, Elizabeth |title=Gender Differences in Information Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift.|journal=Journal of Consumer Marketing|year=2000|volume=17|issue=6|pages=500–522|doi=10.1108/07363760010349920|url=http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=856370&show=pdf}}{{cite journal|last=Laroche|first=Michel|author2=Saad, Gad |author3=Kim, Chankon |author4= Browne, Elizabeth |title=A Cross-Cultural Study of In-Store Information Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift|journal=Journal of Business Research|year=2000|volume=49|issue=2|pages=113–126|doi=10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00008-9}}{{cite journal |title=An evolutionary psychology perspective on gift giving among young adults |author=Gad Saad, Tripat Gill |journal=Psychology and Marketing |volume=20 |issue=9 |pages=765–784 |year=2003 |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/104552658/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121216133908/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/104552658/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 December 2012 |doi=10.1002/mar.10096}}

Coverage and interviews

Saad was profiled in the Toronto Star in 2016. Saad has appeared on Sam Harris's Making Sense podcast (then titled Waking Up).

Bibliography

= Books =

Saad, G. (2007). The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. {{ISBN|9780805851502}}. Book review{{cite journal|url=http://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138%2808%2900002-0/abstract|title=DEFINE_ME_WA|volume=29|issue=4|pages=297–298|website=Ehbonline.org|doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.12.006|year=2008|last1=Griskevicius|first1=Vladas}}
Saad, G. (ed.) (2011). Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany. {{ISBN|9783540927839}}. Book review{{cite journal|title=Book Review: Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences|author=Patrick A. Stewart|journal= Politics and the Life Sciences |volume = 32|issue=2|pages=130–133|doi=10.2990/32_2_130|year = 2013|s2cid=145406315}}{{cite journal|title=The Consuming Instinct by Gad Saad. Published by Prometheus Books, 2011 in New York, NY. | doi=10.1002/mar.20605 | volume=30| issue=3 |journal=Psychology & Marketing|page=293|year = 2013|last1 = Jevons|first1 = Colin}}
Saad, G. (2011). The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. {{ISBN|9781616144296}}. Book review{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-61614-429-6|title=Nonfiction Book Review: The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature by Gad Saad. Prometheus, $25 (340p) ISBN 978-1-61614-429-6|work=PublishersWeekly.com|date=June 2011}}
Saad, G. (2020). The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing. {{ISBN|9781621579595}}.
Saad, G. (2023). The Saad Truth About Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing. {{ISBN|9781684515288}}.