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Gad Saad, PhD

Professor, Marketing


Gad Saad, PhD
Office: S-MB 13325  
John Molson Building,
1450 Guy
Phone: (514) 848-2424 ext. 2900
Email: gad.saad@concordia.ca
Website(s): THE SAAD TRUTH

Dr. Gad Saad is Professor of Marketing, holder of the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption (2008-2018), and advisory fellow at the Center for Inquiry. He was an Associate Editor of Evolutionary Psychology (2012-2015) and of Customer Needs and Solutions (2014- ).  He has held Visiting Associate Professorships at Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and the University of California-Irvine. Dr. Saad was inducted into the Who’s Who of Canadian Business in 2002. He was listed as one of the “hot” professors of Concordia University in both the 2001 and 2002 Maclean’s reports on Canadian universities. Dr. Saad received the JMSB Faculty’s Distinguished Teaching Award in June 2000. He is the recipient of the 2014 Darwinism Applied Award granted by the Applied Evolutionary Psychology Society and co-recipient of the 2015 President's Media Outreach Award-Research Communicator (International). His research and teaching interests include evolutionary psychology, consumer behavior, and psychology of decision making.

Professor Saad’s trade book, The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature (Prometheus Books), was released in June 2011, and has since been translated to Korean and Turkish.  His 2007 book, The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption (Lawrence Erlbaum) is the first academic book to demonstrate the Darwinian roots of a wide range of consumption phenomena.  His edited book, Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences, was also released in 2011 (Springer), as was his special issue on the futures of evolutionary psychology published in Futures (Elsevier).

He has over 75 scientific publications covering a wide range of disciplines including in marketing, consumer behavior, psychology, economics, evolutionary theory, medicine, and bibliometrics. A sample of outlets wherein his publications have appeared include Journal of Marketing Research; Journal of Consumer Psychology; Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; Journal of Behavioral Decision Making; Evolution and Human Behavior; Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics; Marketing Theory; Journal of Social Psychology; Personality and Individual Differences; Managerial and Decision Economics; Journal of Bioeconomics; Applied Economics Letters; Journal of Business Research; Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences; Psychology & Marketing; Journal of Consumer Marketing; Medical Hypotheses; Scientometrics; and Futures. His work has been presented at 170 leading academic conferences, research centers, and universities around the world.

Dr. Saad has supervised or served on the committee of numerous Master’s and Doctoral students, as well as one post-doc. He has been awarded several research grants (both internal as well as governmental). Using his own grant money, he created an in-house behavioral marketing lab.  He serves/has served on numerous editorial boards including Journal of Marketing Research; Journal of Consumer Psychology; Psychology & Marketing; Journal of Business Research; Journal of Social Psychology; Evolutionary Psychology; Open Behavioral Science Journal; Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics; Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology/Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences; The Evolutionary Review; and Frontiers of Evolutionary Psychology; and is an associate member of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He has consulted for numerous firms, and his work has been featured in close to 500 media outlets including on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and blogs. He has been designated Concordia's Newsmaker of the Week five years in a row (2011-2015).  

Dr. Saad holds a PhD (Major: Marketing; Minors in Cognitive Studies and Statistics) and an MS from Cornell University, and an MBA (Specialization: Marketing; Mini-Thesis: Operations Research) and a BSc (Mathematics and Computer Science) both from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada). 

Professor Saad is a highly popular Psychology Today blogger. As of June 24, 2017, his posts have garnered 4,400,000  total views.  He started a YouTube channel (THE SAAD TRUTH) in August 2014, which has garnered 89,000 subscribers and 7,100,000 views as of June 24, 2017. 

Areas of Expertise


  • Consumer behaviour
  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Psychology of decision making

Education

PhD (Cornell University)


Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Saad, G. (forthcoming). On the method of evolutionary psychology and its applicability to consumer research. Journal of Marketing Research. http://journals.ama.org/doi/abs/10.1509/jmr.14.0645

Nepomuceno, M., Saad, G., Stenstrom, E., Mendenhall, Z., & Iglesias, F.  (2016). Testosterone & gift giving: Mating confidence moderates the association between digit ratios (2D4D and rel2) and erotic gift giving. Personality and Individual Differences, 91, 27–30.

Nepomuceno, M., Saad, G., Stenstrom, E., Mendenhall, Z., & Iglesias, F.  (2016). Testosterone at your fingertips: Digit ratios (2D:4D and rel2) as predictors of courtship-related consumption intended to acquire and retain mates.  Journal of Consumer Psychology, 26, 231–244.

Saad, G., Cleveland, M., & Ho, L. (2015). Individualism-collectivism and the quantity versus quality dimensions of individual and group creative performance. Journal of Business Research, 68, 578–586.

Saad, G. Convergent validity between metrics of journal prestige: Theeigenfactor, article influence, and h-index scores.  Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.  (conditionally accepted)

Saad, G., & Greengross, G. (2014). Using evolutionary psychology to enhance the brain imaging paradigm. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8:452. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00452

Saad, G., & Gill, T. (2014). The framing effect when evaluating prospective mates: An adaptationist perspective.  Evolution and Human Behavior35, 184–192

Saad, G. (2013).  The consuming instinct: What Darwinian consumption reveals about human nature. Politics and the Life Sciences, 32 (1), 58–72.

Saad, G. (2013). Evolutionary consumption. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 23, 351–371.

Kenrick, D., Saad, G., & Griskevicius, V. (2013). Evolutionary consumer psychology: Ask not what you can do for biology, but… Journal of Consumer Psychology, 23, 404–409.

Saad, G. (2012). Nothing in popular culture makes sense except in the light of evolution. Review of General Psychology, 16, 109–120. 

Saad, G., & Stenstrom, E.  (2012). Calories, beauty, and ovulation: The effects of the menstrual cycle on food and appearance-related consumption. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22, 102–113.

Stenstrom, E., & Saad, G. (2011). Testosterone, financial risk-taking, and pathological gambling.  Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 4, 254–266.

Boyle, P. J., & Saad, G. (2011).  Product expertise: A moderator of information search in sequential choice.  The Marketing Management Journal, 21, 84–96.

Garcia, J. R., Geher, G., Crosier, B., Saad, G., Gambacorta, D., Johnsen, L., & Pranckitas, E. (2011).  The interdisciplinarity of evolutionary approaches to human behavior: A key to survival in the ivory archipelago.  Futures, 43, 749–761.

Saad, G. (2011).  Futures of evolutionary psychology.  Futures, 43, 725–728.

Stenstrom E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M., & Mendenhall, Z. Testosterone and domain-specific risk: Digit ratios (2D:4D and rel2) as predictors of recreational, financial, and social risk-taking behaviors (2011). Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 412–416.

Saad, G. (2010). Munchausen by proxy: The dark side of parental investment theory? Medical Hypotheses, 75, 479–481.

Saad, G. (2010).  Applying the h-index in exploring bibliometric properties of elite marketing scholars. Scientometrics, 83, 423–433.

Saad, G., & Vongas, J. G. (2009). The effect of conspicuous consumption on men’s testosterone levels. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 110, 80–92.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. (2009). Self-ratings of physical attractiveness in a competitive context: When males are more sensitive to self-perceptions than females.  Journal of Social Psychology, 149, 585–599.

Saad, G., Eba, A., & Sejean, R. (2009). Sex differences when searching for a mate: A process-tracing approach. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 22, 171–190.

Saad, G. (2009).  Revisiting Thorstein Veblen’s “Why is Economics not an Evolutionary Science.” Evolutionary Psychology, 7 (1), 1–5. [Book review of Michael Shermer, The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics.]

Garcia, J., & Saad, G. (2008). Evolutionary neuromarketing: Darwinizing the neuroimaging paradigm for consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 7, 397–414.

Saad, G. (2008). The collective amnesia of marketing scholars regarding consumers’ biological and evolutionary roots. Marketing Theory, 8, 425–448.

Saad, G. (2008). Advertised waist-to-hip ratios of online female escorts: An evolutionary perspective. International Journal of e-Collaboration, 4 (3), 40–50.

Kock, N., Hantula, D. A., Hayne, S., Saad, G., Todd, P. M., & Watson, R. T. (2008). Darwinian perspectives on electronic communication [introductory article to the special issue of the same name]. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 51 (2), 133–146. [Authors other than lead author are listed in alphabetical order] 

Stenstrom, E., Stenstrom, P., Saad, G., & Cheikhrouhou, S. (2008). Online hunting and gathering: An evolutionary perspective on sex differences in website preferences and navigation. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 51 (2), 155–168.

Saad, G. (2007). A multitude of environments for a consilient Darwinian meta-theory of personality: The environment of evolutionary adaptedness, local niches, the ontogenetic environment, and situational contexts. European Journal of Personality, 21, 624–626.  [commentary]

Saad, G. (2007). Suicide triggers as sex-specific threats in domains of evolutionary import: Negative correlation between global male-to-female suicide ratios and average per capita gross national income. Medical Hypotheses, 68, 692–696.

Saad, G. (2006). Universal sex-specific instantiations of OCD. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29, 629. [commentary]

Saad, G. (2006). Blame our evolved gustatory preferences. Young Consumers, 7 (4), 72–75. [invited article: special issue titled Responsible Food Marketing to Children].

Saad, G. (2006). Sex differences in OCD symptomatology: An evolutionary perspective. Medical Hypotheses, 67, 1455–1459.

Saad, G. (2006). Exploring the h-index at the author and journal levels using bibliometric data of productive consumer scholars and business-related journals respectively. Scientometrics, 69 (1), 117–120.

Saad, G. & Peng, A. (2006). Applying Darwinian principles in designing effective intervention strategies: The case of sun tanning. Psychology & Marketing, 23, 617–638.

Saad, G. (2006). Applying evolutionary psychology in understanding the Darwinian roots of consumption phenomena. Managerial and Decision Economics, 27, 189–201. 

Saad, G., Gill, T., & Nataraajan, R. (2005). Are laterborns more innovative and non-conforming consumers than firstborns? A Darwinian perspective. Journal of Business Research, 58, 902–909.

Saad, G. (2004). Applying evolutionary psychology in understanding the representation of women in advertisements.  Psychology & Marketing, 21, 593–612.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. (2003). An evolutionary psychology perspective on gift giving among young adults. Psychology & Marketing, 20, 765–784.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. (2001). Sex differences in the ultimatum game: An evolutionary psychology perspective. Journal of Bioeconomics, 3, 171–193.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. (2001). Gender differences when choosing between salary allocation options. Applied Economics Letters, 8, 531–533.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. (2001). The effects of a recipient’s gender in the modified dictator game. Applied Economics Letters, 8, 463–466.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. (2000). Applications of evolutionary psychology in marketing.  Psychology & Marketing, 17, 1005–1034. [Lead Article]

Boyle, P., & Saad, G. (2000). Sequential decision-making strategies of expert and novice consumers. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 4 (2), 83-88.  A slightly different version was published in the Online Proceedings of the Allied Academies International Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1999, 32–36.

Laroche, M., Saad, G., Cleveland, M., & Browne, E. (2000). Gender differences in information search strategies for a Christmas gift.   Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17, 500–524.

Laroche, M., Saad, G., Kim, C. & Browne, E.  (2000). A cross-cultural study of in-store information search strategies for a Christmas gift.  Journal of Business Research, 49, 113–126.

Laroche, M., Saad, G., Browne, E., Cleveland, M., & Kim, C. (2000). Determinants of in-store information search strategies pertaining to a Christmas gift purchase. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 17, 1–19.

Saad, G. (1998). The experimenter module of the DSMAC (Dynamic Sequential Multiattribute Choice) interface. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 30, 250–254.

Saad, G. (1996). SMAC: An interface for investigating Sequential Multiattribute Choices. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 28, 259–264.

Saad, G. & Russo, J. E. (1996). Stopping criteria in sequential choice. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 67, 258–270.

Books

Saad, G. (2011). The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. [Translated to Korean and Turkish]

Saad, G. (Ed.) (2011). Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany.

Saad, G. (Ed.) (2011). Futures of Evolutionary Psychology (Special Issue). Futures, 43, 725–920.

Saad, G. (2007). The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Book Chapters

Saad, G., (2015). Evolutionary consumer psychology. In David M. Buss (Ed.), Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (2nd edition, pp. 1143-1160). New York: Wiley.

Saad, G. (2014). The evolutionary instincts of Homo consumericus. In Stephanie Preston, Morten Kringelbach, and Brian Knutson (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Science of Consumption (pp. 59-76), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Saad, G. (2014). Evolutionary consumption. In Andrew M. Farrell and Nick Lee (Eds.), Wiley Encyclopaedia of Management – Marketing (Volume 9, pp. 184-189).  New York: Wiley. 

Saad, G. (2014). Behavioral decision theory. In Andrew M. Farrell and Nick Lee (Eds.), Wiley Encyclopaedia of Management – Marketing (Volume 9, pp. 33-35).  New York: Wiley.

Saad, G. (2014). Neuromarketing. In Andrew M. Farrell and Nick Lee (Eds.), Wiley Encyclopaedia of Management – Marketing (Volume 9, pp. 371-373).  New York: Wiley.

Saad, G. (2014). Conspicuous consumption. In Andrew M. Farrell and Nick Lee (Eds.), Wiley Encyclopaedia of Management – Marketing (Volume 9, 87-89).  New York: Wiley.

Saad, G. (2011). Discovering Homo consumericus. In X.T. Wang and Yan-jie Su (Eds.), Thus Spake Evolutionary Psychologists (pp. 303–310).  Beijing, China: Peking University Press.

Saad, G. (2011).  The missing link: The biological roots of the business sciences. In G. Saad (Ed.), Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences (pp. 1–16).  Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.

Saad, G. (2011).  Song lyrics as windows to our evolved human nature. In Alice Andrews and Joseph Carroll (Eds.), The Evolutionary Review: Art, Science, Culture (Volume 2, pp. 127–133).  Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Saad, G. (2010). The Darwinian underpinnings of consumption. In Pauline Maclaran, Michael Saren, Barbara Stern, & Mark Tadajewski (Eds.), The Handbook of Marketing Theory (pp. 457–475).  London: Sage.

Gill, T., & Saad, G. (2010). Consumer behavior in the realm of technology. In Hossein Bigdoli (Ed.), The Handbook of Technology Management (Volume 2, pp. 277–289), New York: Wiley.

Mendenhall, Z., Saad, G., & Nepomuceno (2010). Homo Virtualensis: Evolutionary psychology as a tool for studying videogames. In Ned Kock (ed.), Evolutionary Psychology and Information Systems Research: A New Approach to Studying the Effects of Modern Technologies on Human Behavior (pp. 305–328). Heidelberg: Springer.

Saad, G. (2010). Using the Internet to study human universals. In In Lee (Ed.), Encyclopedia of E-Business Development and Management in the Global Economy (pp. 719–724), Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Stenstrom, E., & Saad, G. (2010). The neurocognitive and evolutionary bases of sex differences in website design preferences: Recommendations for e-business managers. In In Lee (Ed.), Encyclopedia of E-Business Development and Management in the Global Economy (pp. 725–733). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Mendenhall, Z., Nepomuceno, M., & Saad, G. (2010). Exploring video games from an evolutionary psychological perspective. In In Lee (Ed.), Encyclopedia of E-Business Development and Management in the Global Economy (pp. 734–742). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Durante, K. M., & Saad, G. (2010). Strategic shifts in women’s social motives and behaviors across the menstrual cycle: Implications in corporate settings. In Angela Stanton, Mellani Day, & Isabell Welpe (Eds.), Neuroeconomics and the Firm (pp. 116–130), Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

Saad, G.  (2003). Evolution and political marketing. In S. A. Peterson and A. Somit (Eds.), Human Nature and Public Policy: An Evolutionary Approach (pp. 121–138).  New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Saad, G. (1997). Pros and cons of setting-up a virtual laboratory on the Internet using the DSMAC process-tracing interface, Multimedia Technology and Applications, Vincent W. S. Chow (Ed.), Singapore: Springer-Verlag, p. 550–557.


Participation activities

Refereed Conference Proceedings

Saad, G. (2013). Evolutionary consumption: Methodological pluralism, interdisciplinarity, and consilience (unified knowledge). In Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 40, Zeynep Gurhan-Canli, Cele Otnes, and Juliet Rui Zhu (Eds.).  Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research, p. 1091–1092.

Saad, G. (2006). Homo consumericus: The evolutionary roots of consumption phenomena. Proceedings of the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference.  Published on CD-Rom.

Kouli, J., & Saad, G. (2000). Le placement de produits dans les films:  Une comparaison interculturelle France/Etats-Unis. Actes du 16eme Congres International, Tome 2, Richard Michon, Jean-Charles Chebat and Francois Colbert (Eds.), Paris, France:  Association Francaise de Marketing, p. 985–1001.

Russo, J. E., & Saad, G. (1999). Consumer choice as a process of discrimination. In Anne Lavack (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (Marketing Division), 20 (3), p. 33–42.

Reid, S., & Saad, G. (1999). The roots of innovation:  A pilot study investigating the decision processes of "gatekeepers" for radical innovations in high-tech organizations. In Anne Lavack (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (Marketing Division), 20 (3), p. 137–145.

Saad, G. (1999). The role of attribute importance in sequential consumer choice. Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 26, Eric J. Arnould and Linda M. Scott (Eds.), Provo, UT:  Association for Consumer Research, p. 51–57.

Saad, G. (1998). An exploration of values in various cultural contexts: Discussant leader commentaries. Developments in Marketing Science (21), J. B. Ford & E. D. Honeycutt, Jr. (Eds.), p. 374–376.

Saad, G. (1998). Information reacquisition in sequential consumer choice. In Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 25, Joseph. W. Alba and J. Wesley Hutchinson (Eds.), Provo, UT:  Association for Consumer Research, 233–239.

Saad, G. (1995). The importance of a decision versus the cognitive cost of using a heuristic when choosing between equally-valued alternatives. Proceedings of the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, p. 41–48.

Refereed Conference Presentations

Carvalho, L., Saad, G., & Brito, E. P. Z. Sex differences in retaliatory behaviors: A comparison between biological sex and gender schema theory. To be presented by L. Carvalho at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference, San Antonio, Texas, January 19-21, 2017.

Theriault, D., & Saad, G.  I Love the Cozy Places: Prospect-Refuge Theory explains restaurant spatial preferences. Presented by D. Theriault at the 10th NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 2-5, 2016.

Theriault, D., Davidson, A., & Saad, G. (solely as supervisor).  Liberal or conservative: Political ideology and brands. Presented by Derek Theriault at the Seventh Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, November 12, 2015.  [Winner of the Popular Choice prize Award.]

Hou, L., Kuhnreich, C., & Saad, G. What keeps us from doing replications: Testing signaling theory in the business academic job market. Presented by Lianze Hou at the Seventh Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, November 12, 2015.

Theriault, D., & Saad, G.  I love the cozy places: Prospect-Refuge Theory explains restaurant spatial preferences. Presented by Derek Theriault at the Association for Consumer Research Conference, New Orleans, October, 2015.

Saad, G., Sejean, R., Greengross, G., & Cherkas, L. Does decision making have a genetic basis? A twins study analysis. Presented by Gil Greengross at the Sixth Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, November 13, 2014.

Carvalho, L., & Saad, G.  Sex differences in customer retaliatory behaviours. Presented by Lilian Carvalho at the Sixth Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, November 13, 2014.

Theriault, D., & Saad, G. I love the cozy places: Explaining restaurant design preferences. Presented by Derek Theriault at the Sixth Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, November 13, 2014.

Saad, G., & Irimia, V.  Extreme sports as costly signaling. Presented by Vlad Irimia at the Sixth Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, November 13, 2014.

Saad, G., Sejean, R., Greengross, G., & Cherkas, L.  Does decision making have a genetic basis? A twins study analysis.  Presented by Gil Greengross at the Association for Consumer Research Conference, Baltimore, October 2014.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. You drive a Porsche: Women (men) think you must be tall (short), intelligent and ambitious.  Presented by Tripat Gill at the Association for Consumer Research Conference, Baltimore, October 2014.

Stenstrom,E., Saad, G., Puligadda, S., & Boezio, A. The effect of menstrual cycle phase on brand personality preference.  Presented by Sanjay Puligadda, Atlantic Marketing Association Conference, September 24–27, 2014, Asheville, North Carolina.

Saad, G. Part of an invited panel on evolutionary psychology in consumer behavior at the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, February 28 – March 2, 2013, San Antonio, Texas.

Stenstrom, E., & Saad, G. Hormones & prosocial behavior: The influence of the menstrual cycle on gift-giving propensity. Presented by Eric Stenstrom at the Association for Consumer Research Conference, Vancouver, October 2012.

Saad, G. Evolutionary consumption: Methodological pluralism, interdisciplinarity, and consilience (unified knowledge). Roundtable session (organizer and participant), the Association for Consumer Research Conference, Vancouver, October 2012.

Saad, G., Cleveland, M., & Ho, L. Individualism-Collectivism and the quantity versus quality dimensions of individual and group creative performance. Presented by Mark Cleveland at the 8th Royal Bank International Research Seminar, International Conference on Globalization and Marketing Strategy, Shanghai, China, June 7-10, 2012.

Saad, G., Tifferet, S., Meiri, M., & Ido, N. Gift-giving at Israeli weddings as a function of genetic relatedness and maternal lineage. NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society Conference, hosted at Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH, April 27-29, 2012.

Saad, G.  Evolutionary Business and Consumption. Applied Evolutionary Psychology Society (AEPS) Workshop, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire, April 26, 2012.

Stenstrom, E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M., & Mendenhall, Z.  Romance and costly signals: The influence of relationship security on conspicuous consumption and risk-taking.  Presented by Eric Stenstrom at the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference (SCP); Las Vegas, NV, February 2012.

Stenstrom, E., & Saad, G. Menstrual cycle on gift-giving proclivities. Presented by Eric Stenstrom at the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference (SCP); Las Vegas, NV, February 2012.

Stenstrom, E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M., & Mendenhall, Z. Testosterone and Context-specific Risk: Digit Ratios as Predictors of Recreational, Financial, and Social Risk-taking.  Presented by E. Stenstrom at the Second Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, November 18, 2010.  [Tied for the most popular poster in the doctoral category.]

Saad, G. & Stenstrom, E. The Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Food and Appearance-Related Consumption. Presented by E. Stenstrom at the Association for Consumer Research Conference, Jacksonville, FL, October 2010.

Stenstrom, E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M., & Mendenhall, Z. Testosterone and Context-Specific Risk: Digit Ratios as Predictors of Recreational, Financial, and Social Risk-Taking Proclivity. Presented by Z. Mendenhall at the Association for Consumer Research Conference, Jacksonville, FL, October 2010.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. The Framing Effect Viewed Via an Evolutionary Lens. Presented by E. Stenstrom (on behalf of Gad Saad & Tripat Gill) at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference (HBES), Eugene, OR, June 2010.

Saad, G., & Stenstrom, E. The Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Consumption. Presented by E. Stenstrom at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference (HBES), Eugene, OR, June 2010.

Saad, G., & Stenstrom, E. Menstrual Cycle Effects on Consumption Desires, Product Usage, and Purchasing Behaviors.  Presented by E. Stenstrom at the HEC Student Conference on Business Research, Montreal, QC, May 7-8, 2010.

Domain-Specific Contamination: Pathogen, Moral, and Sexual Disgust across Marketing Contexts. Presented by E. Stenstrom, based on the Master’s thesis proposal of Zack Mendenhall, supervised by Gad Saad. McGill University Doctoral Marketing Symposium, Montreal, QC, April 9, 2010.

Saad, G., & Stenstrom, E. Menstrual cycle effects on consumption desires, product usage, and purchasing behaviors. Presented by E. Stenstrom at the Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, November 12, 2009.  [Received First Runner-Up Prize at the inaugural JMSB graduate research exposition; doctoral category.]

Nepomuceno, M., Saad, G., Stenstrom E., & Mendenhall, Z. Digit length ratio predicts attitudes towards product categories in women. Presented by M. Nepomuceno at the Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, November 12, 2009. [Received Honorable Mention at the inaugural JMSB graduate research exposition; doctoral category.]

Saad, G., & Boezio, A.  Does the color of a drink affect its perceived sweetness?  Presented by Alessdandra Boezio at the Annual Graduate Research Exposition, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, November 12, 2009.

Nepomuceno, M., Saad, G., Stenstrom, E., & Mendenhall, Z.  Finger Length Ratio and Attitudes Towards Several Product Categories. Presented by Marcelo Nepomuceno at the Association for Consumer Research Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 2009.

Garcia, J. R., Geher, G., Crosier, B., Saad, G., Gambacorta, D., Johnsen, L., & Pranckitas, E. The Interdisciplinarity of Evolutionary Approaches to Human Behavior: A Key to Survival in the Ivory Archipelago.  Presented by Ben Crosier at the International Society for Human Ethology Summer Institute on Evolution and Human Behavior, hosted by the University of Maine at Orono, July 5-9, 2009.

Garcia, J. R., Geher, G., Crosier, B., Saad, G., Gambacorta, D., Johnsen, L., & Pranckitas, E. The Interdisciplinarity of Evolutionary Approaches to Human Behavior: A Key to Survival in the Ivory Archipelago. Presented by Ben Crosier at the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society Conference, hosted by State University of New York at Oswego, July 9-12, 2009.

Garcia, J. R., Geher, G., Crosier, B., Saad, G., Gambacorta, D., Johnsen, L., & Pranckitas, E. The Interdisciplinarity of Evolutionary Approaches to Human Behavior: A Key to Survival in the Ivory Archipelago. Presented by Ben Crosier at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, hosted by California State University at Fullerton, May 27-31, 2009.

Stenstrom, E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M., & Mendenhall, Z. Digit Length Ratios and Conspicuous Consumption. Presented by Zack Mendenhall at the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society Conference, hosted by State University of New York at Oswego, July 9-12, 2009.

Nepomuceno, M., Saad, G., Stenstrom, E., & Mendenhall, Z. Finger Length Ratio and Attitudes Towards Various Product Categories. Presented by Marcelo Nepomuceno at the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society Conference, hosted by State University of New York at Oswego, July 9-12, 2009.

Stenstrom, E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M., & Mendenhall, Z. Prenatal Androgens and Domain-Specific Risk: Digit Ratio Predicts Financial, Recreational, Social, and Ethical Risk-Taking Propensity. Presented by Eric Stenstrom at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, hosted by California State University at Fullerton, May 27-31, 2009.

Nepomuceno, M., Saad, G., Stenstrom, E., & Mendenhall, Z.  Finger Length Ratio and Attitudes Towards Several Product Categories. Presented by Marcelo Nepomuceno at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, hosted by California State University at Fullerton, May 27-31, 2009.

Saad, G. The Darwinian Roots of Consumption. Darwin’s Reach: Celebrating Darwin’s Legacy Across the Disciplines, held at Hofstra University, March 12-14, 2009.

Saad, G., Stanton, A. A., Lee, N., Senior, C., & Butler, M. J. Evolutionary neurobusiness. Presented by Angela A. Stanton at the NeuroPsychoEconomics Conference, Munich, Germany, October 9-10, 2008.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. Framing effects when evaluating prospective suitors: An adaptationist perspective. Special session: Decision making through the lens of evolutionary psychology. American Psychological Association 116th Annual Convention, Boston, August 14-17, 2008.

Saad, G., & Vongas, J. Conspicuous consumption and male physiology: An evolutionary perspective. Presented by J. Vongas at the Deuxième Conférence Etudiante de Recherche en Gestion, HEC-Montreal, April 18-19, 2008.

Saad, G.  Optimizing the Customer Experience Through An Understanding of Our Universal Human Nature. How Research Can Improve Customer Experience: Bell University Laboratories’ 5th annual conference, Toronto, Canada, June 2007.

Saad, G., & Stenstrom, E. The Research Productivity and Associated Influence of Canadian-Based Marketing Academics: A Pilot Study. Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Conference. Presented by E. Stenstrom, Ottawa, Canada, June 2007.

Saad, G., & Vongas, J. The Effects of Conspicuous Consumption on Testosterone. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference. Presented by J. Vongas, Williamsburg, VA, May-June 2007.

Saad, G.  Infusing Evolutionary Theory Into the Teaching of Consumer Behavior. The Spirit of Inquiry Conference, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, May 2007.

Saad, G., Sejean, R., & Cherkas, L. The Genetic Underpinnings of Decision-Making Styles: A Twins Study. 10th Biennial Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference, Santa Monica, CA, June 2006.

Gill, T., & Saad, G.  Sex Differences in Framing Effects: An Evolutionary Perspective. 10th Biennial Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference, Santa Monica, CA, June 2006.

Saad, G., & Sejean, R. A Unified Sequential Mate Selection Model. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 2006.

Saad, G., & Sejean, R. A Process-Tracing Interface for Studying Attribute-Based and Alternative-Based Sequential Sampling. Presented by R. Sejean at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Montreal, Canada, June 2006.

Saad, G.  Homo consumericus: The Evolutionary Roots of Consumption Phenomena. Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, Miami, Florida, February 2006.

Gill, T., & Saad, G.  Are Framing Effects Context-General or Context-Specific?  An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective. Presented by T. Gill at the Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference, Toronto, Ontario, November 2005.

Saad, G. Are Consumers Biological Beings? No, If You Ask Consumer Scholars. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, Austin, Texas, June 2005.

Saad, G., Sejean, R., & Leydesdorff, L. Quantifying the Consilience of Disciplines via Scientometric Techniques:  An Analysis of the Intellectual Structures of Evolutionary Psychology and Consumer Behavior.  Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, Austin, Texas, June 2005.

Saad, G., & Gill, T.  Sex-Specific Triggers of Envy:  An Evolutionary Perspective. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, Austin, Texas, June 2005.

Saad, G.  Understanding Popular Culture Via Evolutionary Psychology: The Case of Song Lyrics. National Meeting of the Popular Culture/American Culture Associations, San Diego, California, March 2005.

Saad, G.  Evolutionary Psychology and Why Sex in Advertising is a Universal. Part of a special session entitled “A World of Differences – Using Sexy Advertising” organized by Professors Stephen Holden and Marilyn Jones for the AMS Cultural Perspectives on Marketing Conference, Puebla, Mexico, September 2004. (paper presented by Stephen Holden on my behalf)

Saad, G., Gill, T., & Nataraajan, R. The Effects of Birth Order on Consumer Behavior. Presented by T. Gill at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, Rutgers University, June 2002.

Saad, G., & Gill, T.  Consilience in Consumer Behavior: Adopting Evolutionary Psychology as the Integrative Framework. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, London, England, June 2001.

Saad, G., & Eba, A. Sex Differences When Rejecting Potential Mates. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, London, England, June 2001.

Eba, A., & Saad, G. Sex Differences in Mating Preferences As a Function of Temporal Context of Mating. Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference, London, England, June 2001.

Saad, G., & Ho, L. The Effects of Individualism-Collectivism Orientation on Brainstorming: A Comparison of Canadian and Taiwanese Samples. Comparing Cultures-Dimensions of Culture in a Comparative Perspective, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, April 2001. Also presented at the Multicultural Marketing Conference, Montreal, Canada, September 1998.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. Gender Dynamics in the Ultimatum Game:  An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective. Part of a panel entitled "Bioeconomics & Evolutionary Psychology" organized by Professors Janet Landa and XT Wang for the European Public Choice Society Meetings, Paris, France, April 2001.

Kouli, J., & Saad, G.  Le Placement de Produits Dans Les Films: Une Comparaison Interculturelle France/Etats-Unis. Presented by J. Kouli.  Congrès Association Française de Marketing. Montreal, Quebec, May, 2000.

Laroche, M., Saad, G., Cleveland, M., & Browne, E. Test of the Selectivity Model in the Context of In-Store Consumer Information Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift. Presented by M. Laroche.  Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, San Antonio, Texas, February, 2000.

Boyle, P., & Saad, G. Decision Strategies for Expert and Novice Consumers. Presented by P. Boyle. Allied Academics International Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, October, 1999.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. Gender Dynamics in the Ultimatum Game. Society for Consumer Psychology Summer Conference (in association with the American Psychological Association), August 1999, Boston, MA.  Part of a special session organized by G. Saad titled “Applications of Evolutionary Psychology in Decision Making”.

Saad, G., & Eba, A. Search Behavior When Choosing a Mate. Society for Consumer Psychology Summer Conference (in association with the American Psychological Association, August 1999), Boston, MA.  Presented by A. Eba.  Part of a special session organized by G. Saad titled “Applications of Evolutionary Psychology in Decision Making”.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. Do Men and Women Offer Gifts for the Same Reasons? Society for Consumer Psychology Summer Conference (in association with the American Psychological Association, August 1999), Boston, MA.  Presented by T. Gill.  Part of a special session organized by G. Saad titled “Applications of Evolutionary Psychology in Decision Making”.

Saad, G., & Gill, T. Gender Differences in Resource Allocation Problems. The Eighth International Conference on Social Dilemmas, Zichron-Yaakov, Israel, July 1999.

Reid, S., & Saad, G.  The Roots of Innovation:  A Pilot Study Investigating the Decision Processes of "Gatekeepers" for Radical Innovations in High-Tech Organizations. Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Conference Conference, presented by S. Reid and G. Saad, June 1999 (St-John, NB).

Russo, J. E., & Saad, G. Consumer Choice as a Process of Discrimination. Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Conference, June 1999 (St-John, NB).

Stayman, D. M., & Saad, G. The Influence of Order Effects in Advertising Repetition. Presented by D. Stayman at the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, St. Petersburg, Florida, February 1999.

Saad, G., & Boyle, P. Does Expertise Moderate the Reevaluation of Previously-Acquired Information in a Sequential Choice Task? INFORMS Meetings, Seattle, Washington, October 1998.

Saad, G. The Role of Attribute Importance in Sequential Consumer Choice. Association for Consumer Research, Montreal, Canada, October 1998.

Saad, G., & Ho, L. The Effects of Individualism-Collectivism Orientation on Brainstorming: A Comparison of Canadian and Taiwanese Samples. Multicultural Marketing Conference, Montreal, Canada, September 1998.  Also presented at the Comparing Cultures-Dimensions of Culture in a Comparative Perspective, Multicultural Marketing Conference, Tilburg, The Netherlands, April 2001.

Saad, G., & Boyle, P. When Do Experts Close Up Shop? A Study of the Use of Sequential Information in a Purchase Decision. Marketing Science Conference, Fontainebleau (France), July 1998.

Saad, G. Online Reevaluations of Attribute Information in Sequential Consumer Choice. Academy of Marketing Science Conference, Norfolk, Virginia, May 1998.

Saad, G.  DSMAC:  A Dynamic Interface for Investigating Sequential MultiAttribute Choices. Society for Computers in Psychology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 1997.

Laroche, M., Saad, G., Kim, C., & Browne, E.  A Cross-Cultural Study of In-Store Information Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift.  Symposium on Retail and Service Environment Atmospherics Research.  Montreal, Canada, October 1997.

Saad, G. Information Reacquisition in Sequential Consumer Choice. Association for Consumer Research, Denver, Colorado, October 1997.

Saad, G. Pros and Cons of Setting-Up a Virtual Laboratory on the Internet Using the DSMAC Process-Tracing Interface, International Conference on Multimedia Technology, Hong Kong, December 1996.

Saad, G.  Adapting to Time Pressure in a Multiattribute Optional Stopping Task, XXVI International Congress of Psychology, Montreal, Canada, August 1996.

Saad, G.  The SMAC Interface:  A Data Collection Tool for Investigating Sequential MultiAttribute Choices, Society for Computers in Psychology Conference, Los Angeles, California, November 1995.

Saad, G. Attribute Ranks: Determinants of Information Acquisition Order, International Association for Research in Economic Psychology Conference, Bergen, Norway, August 1995.

Saad, G. The Importance of a Decision versus the Cognitive Cost of a Heuristic when Choosing Between Equally-Valued Alternatives, Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, San Diego, California, February 1995.

Saad, G., & Stayman, D. M. Varying Multiple Executions in an Advertising Campaign String Length and Other Factors, American Psychological Association Conference, Los Angeles, California, August 1994. Also presented at the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, St-Petersburg, Florida, February 1994.

Saad, G., & Stayman, D. M.  Varying Multiple Executions in an Advertising Campaign String Length and Other Factors, the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, St-Petersburg, Florida, February 1994. Also presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, Los Angeles, California, August 1994.

Saad, G., & Russo, J. E. Stopping Policies in Sequential Decision Making, Fourteenth Subjective Probability, Utility and Decision Making Conference, Aix-en-Provence, France, August 1993.  Also presented at the Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference, Washington, D.C., November 1993.

Saad, G., & Russo, J. E. Stopping Policies in Sequential Decision Making, Fourteenth Subjective Probability, Utility and Decision Making Conference, Aix-en-Provence, France, August 1993.  Also presented at the Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference, Washington, D.C., November 1993.

Saad, G., & Stayman, D. M.  Factors Moderating the Effective Use of Sequencing Strategies, American Academy of Advertising Conference, Montreal, Canada, April 1993.

Saad, G. Importance of a Decision versus Cognitive Cost of Using a Heuristic, Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference, UC-Berkeley, May 1992.

Interviews and Lectures

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa-VfOWrqWJ3EvpwU5ek1Yik3MdPEG8eB


Research activities

Invited Research Talks and Workshops

The Habit Summit (April 2017, San Francisco)

Stanford University (Graduate School of Business, April 2017)

UNLV (School of Life Sciences, February 2017)

Logical LA (January 2017, Los Angeles)

UC-Irvine (Paul Merage School of Business, December 2016)

Chapman University (College of Educational Studies, December 2016)

Mexico’s Secretariat of Tourism (Guadalajara, Mexico; April 26, 2016)

Chapman University (Psychology Department; February 2016)

Institutefor Liberal Studies (Ottawa, January 2016)

La Ciudad de las Ideas (Mexico, November 2015)

Lakeside Academy (March 2015; part of Passages Canada program)

Binghamton University (EvoS Speaker Series) (September 2014)

Wellesley College (Freedom Project) (April 2014)

SAP Software Solutions (senior executives; cancelled) (April 2014)

National Integrative Research Conference, hosted by McGill University, keynote address (March 2014)

Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology Pre Conference, invited speaker (February 2014)

University of Alabama (ALLELE Lecture Series) (November 2013)

30th annual meeting of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences, keynote address, Texas Tech University (October 2013)

2nd Ringberg Symposium on evolution and economics, Max Planck Society (September2013)

Ancestral Health Symposium, plenary lecture (August 2013)

ANFO (service and interest organization for Norwegian advertisers) (May 2013)

7th Johan Arndt Conference (Oslo, Norway), keynote address (May 2013)

TEDxDawson (May 2013)

9th annual Southern Ontario Behavioral Decision Research, hosted by Wilfrid Laurier University, keynote address (May 2013)

Northwestern University (Kellogg) (April 2013)

Saint-Mary’s University (Halifax, Nova Scotia), keynote address at the 28th annual psychology student conference (April 2013)

Texas A&M University, Business School (February 2013)^

University of Texas at Austin, Business School (February 2013)^

Texas Tech University, Political Science Department (February 2013)

Arizona State University, Business School (January 2013)

Arizona State University, Psychology Department (January 2013)

University of the Streets Café, Concordia University (December 2012)

McGill University (advanced biology course “Evolution & Society”) (Nov. 2012)

Hampden-Sydney College, Political Economy Lecture Series (April 2012)

Cornell University (Johnson Graduate School of Management) (April 2012)

Wilfrid Laurier University (doctoral seminar in consumer behavior) [via Skype] (March2012)

McGill University (advanced biology course “Evolution & Society”) (Nov. 2011)

Chapman University (Economic Science Institute) (September 2011)

Clarkson University (Arts and Science Public Lecture) (April 2011)

TEDxConcordia (February 2011)

McGill University (doctoral seminar in decision neuroscience) (June 2010)

University of Guelph (Philosophy Department) (March 2009)

Concordia University (Science College Public Lecture): Introductory remarks prior to Dr. David Sloan Wilson’s talk (March 2009)

University of Michigan (Ross School of Business) (April 2008)

University of Michigan (Decision Consortium Seminar; Psychology Department) (April 2008)

Bishop’s University (Provigo Lecture; endowed speaker series) (March 2008)

University of Arizona (lecture on my 2007 book) (February 2008)

University of Arizona (lecture on my experiences as an iconoclastic interdisciplinarian)(February 2008)

University of Arizona (lecture on the use of bibliometric indices) [All three talks hosted by the Norton School] (February 2008)

Concordia University (Back-to-School Faculty Showcase: Alumni event) (January 2008)

Central Michigan University (Industrial and Organizational Psychology Association)(April 2007)

Indiana University (Cognitive Science Colloquium Series) (April 2007)

Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (School of Informatics) (April 2007)

McGill University (doctoral seminar in automatic processes in consumer behavior) (September 2006)

University of New Mexico (Human Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences) (September 2006)

SUNY-Binghamton (Evolutionary Studies Program) (November 2005)

University of Houston (Bauer School of Business) (February 2004)

Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) (May 2003)

University of California-Los Angeles (Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture) (May2003)

University of California-Santa Barbara (Developmental and Evolutionary Psychology Area)(March 2003)

University of Southern California (Marshall School of Business) (Summer 2002)

University of California-Irvine (Graduate School of Management) (March 2002)

Max Planck Institute for Human Development (institute-wide talk; Berlin) (June 2001)

Adaptive Behavior and Cognition Group (at the Max Planck Institute) (June 2001)

Cornell University (Statler School) (May 2001)

Australian Graduate School of Management (Spring 2001)

Victoria University (Wellington, New Zealand) (Spring 2001)

INSEAD *(Fontainebleau, France) (Summer 1999)

Central Washington University (May 1998)

HEC-Montreal (April 1998)

Cornell University * (Spring 1998)

McGill University (Faculty of Management) (April 1997)

University of Colorado * (Spring 1997)

University of Rochester (Fall 1993)

ESSEC (Cergy-Pontoise, France) (Fall 1993)

INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France) (Fall 1993)

Harvard University (Fall 1993)

Concordia University (Fall 1993)

^ Both talks were cancelled due to poor weather that I faced while traveling to the venues. I was stuck in Lubbock, Texas for several days due to snowfall. 

* Refers to joint work presented by aco-author; in each of the latter three cases, it was the same co-author, namely Prof. Douglas M. Stayman.

 

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