Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer BehaviorA leading evolutionary psychologist probes the hidden instincts behind our working, shopping, and spending Evolutionary psychology-the compelling science of human nature-has clarified the prehistoric origins of human behavior and influenced many fields ranging from economics to personal relationships. In Spent Geoffrey Miller applies this revolutionary science's principles to a new domain: the sensual wonderland of marketing and status seeking that we call American consumer culture. Starting with the basic notion that the goods and services we buy unconsciously advertise our biological potential as mates and friends, Miller examines the hidden factors that dictate our choices in everything from lipstick to cars, from the magazines we read to the music we listen to. With humor and insight, Miller analyzes an array of product choices and deciphers what our decisions say about ourselves, giving us access to a new way of understanding-and improving-our behaviors. Like Freakonomics or The Tipping Point, Spent is a bold and revelatory book that illuminates the unseen logic behind the chaos of consumerism and suggests new ways we can become happier consumers and more responsible citizens. |
Contents
Why Marketing Is Central to Culture | |
This Is Your Brain on Money | |
The Fundamental Consumerist Delusion | |
Flaunting Fitness | |
Conspicuous Waste Precision and Reputation | |
SelfBranding Bodies SelfMarketing Minds | |
Openness | |
Conscientiousness | |
Agreeableness | |
The Centrifugal Soul | |
The Will to Display | |
Legalizing Freedom | |
Exercises for the Reader | |
Further Reading and Viewing | |
The Central | |
Traits That Consumers Flaunt and Marketers Ignore | |
General Intelligence | |
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Common terms and phrases
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