Homo Consumericus

The Nature and Nurture of Consumption

Dr. Gad Saad is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University) and author of The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. See full bio

April 23, 2009, Evolutionary Psychology

Comments on "During Economic Crises Skirts Become Shorter."

During Economic Crises Skirts Become Shorter.

By Gad Saad, Ph.D. on April 23, 2009 in Homo Consumericus

Over the past eight decades, economists, anthropologists, and psychologists have noted that, economic conditions and in some instances other demographic variables, are correlated with fashion trends. Most recently, a group of evolutionists have shown that the extent to which women’s fashion styles are sexy or conservative, are correlated with the prevailing economic conditions. Specifically, as the economy worsens, fashion trends become more provocative. If this theory is true, we should expect a resurgence of the micro miniskirts in the imminent future! Read More

I'd heard of the lipstick

Submitted by Liz on April 23, 2009 - 11:43am.

I'd heard of the lipstick study but not the hemline one! I have a daughter studying economics in college (hates it, too, by the way) and I'll have to send her this link so she can get a laugh out of the subject. I've been trying to get up to speed on the new global economy by reading a really easy-to-understand book, "The 21st Century Economy - a Beginner's Guide." If you ever wanted to be able to use TARP and Derivatives and actually KNOW what you're talking about, this is for you. Unfortunately, our college and retirement funds, sadly, remain decimated. I just understand why, now.

Still no short skirts for me, though... And I look forward to the study on men dancing!

Please include provocative

Submitted by Anonymous on April 23, 2009 - 12:43pm.

Please include provocative photos of the men as you did for the women's article.

Cause and effect?

Submitted by Anonymous on April 24, 2009 - 5:30am.

Maybe we are mixing up cause and effect? If millions of women buy skimpier outfits, less cloth is sold, workers take less time to sew individual items, and less water and detergent is used (because you can fit more clothing items into the washer).

Furthermore, people spend more time flirting than say, drinking, shopping, or bowling.

Then the textile, household product, gastronomy and entertainment industries' earnings go down, they don't invest in new factories and research and/ or can't pay their creditors, and thus the economic depression starts like a game of domino...

Just a thought!! :)

Finally, an end to empire cuts

Submitted by alphadominance on May 14, 2009 - 11:18pm.

Hard times call for the hard sell. Since women often look to men for their bailouts, and show more skin when on the prowl, it's little surprise economic hardship would foster our much beloved American skankiness. I can hardly wait.

To anony above:
Please include provocative photos of the men as you did for the women's article.

See, the problem with this is men don't show skin to get attention unless they are gay perhaps. It doesn't jive with this article.

Interesting article, I'll

Submitted by Diana on September 5, 2009 - 9:56pm.

Interesting article, I'll suggest to read :Changes in Women’s Choice of Dress Across the Ovulatory Cycle: Naturalistic and Laboratory Task-Based Evidence (Kristina Durante, Martie Haselton)

Yes, good suggestion.

Submitted by Gad Saad, Ph.D. on September 6, 2009 - 4:40am.

I am very familiar with the paper that you've suggested. I have a forthcoming book chapter with Kristina Durante on the effects of the menstrual cycle in organizational settings. Also, one of my graduate students (Eric Stenstrom) and I have a working paper on the effects of the menstrual cycle on a wide range of consumption phenomena. Eric wrote his Master's thesis on this topic. I will definitely put up a post wherein I'll discuss this work in the near future.

Thanks for reading. Have a good Sunday.

Thanks for answering back.

Submitted by Diana on September 6, 2009 - 6:07pm.

Thanks for answering back. I'm an undergraduate psychology student, very interested in the evolutionary basis of the human mind. I am also currently reading a book by Thornhill & Gangestad "The evolutionary biology of human female sexuality".

This is a very fun and informative website. I'm looking forward to read your next posts. The study about the effects of the menstrual cycle on consumption sounds very interesting!!!
Best of luck!