Gad Saad

Gad Saad (جاد سعد; born 13 October 1964) is a Canadian marketing professor at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He has argued for applying evolutionary psychology to marketing and consumer behaviour. 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, Lebanon, he is of Lebanese Jewish and Syrian Jewish ancestry. His family fled in October 1975 to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to escape the Lebanese Civil War. His elder brother, David, is a judoka who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His nephew Ariel Helwani is a mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist.

He obtained a B.Sc. (mathematics and computer science) and M.B.A. from McGill University, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Saad is an atheist who describes himself as culturally Jewish.

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, and the University of California, Irvine. He was an associate editor for the journal Evolutionary Psychology from 2012 to 2015. He is an advisory fellow for the Centre for Inquiry Canada.

Saad hosts a YouTube show titled The Saad Truth. As of February 2021, his channel has received more than 22 million views.

Saad writes a blog for Psychology Today titled Homo Consumericus.

Research
Saad has researched how hormones affect and are affected by consumer behavior, such as how conspicuous consumption affects testosterone levels, how testosterone levels affect risk-taking,  and how hormones in the menstrual cycle affect buying decisions. He has also researched how men and women differ in gift giving behaviors.

Coverage and interviews
Saad has been profiled in the Toronto Star and his life story was documented by the Télévision française de l'Ontario. Saad has contributed to The Wall Street Journal.

Saad has appeared on Sam Harris's Making Sense podcast (then titled Waking Up).

Books

 * Saad, G. (2007). The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 9780805851502. Book review
 * Saad, G. (ed.) (2011). Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN 9783540927839. Book review
 * 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
 * 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.