Spent

Customer Reviews

• 4 out of 5
  
  
  by Gaetan from Laurys Station, PA | Feb 26, 2010
  

  Family, Friends, and Sex
  If South Park had an evolutionary psychologist as a character it would be Geoffrey Miller, professor at the University of New Mexico, and author of Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior. Miller uses his irreverent writing style to explain global consumer culture through the application of the science of human nature. This is a particularly good book for marketers as it uses up-to-date science to explain why we, as humans, buy, and why we are often trapped by the allure of consumerism. He bases his argument on the notion that our needs and wants are driven by a psychological (or perhaps biological) predisposition to behave in a manner that signals our physical and mental fitness, and thereby, increases our likelihood of finding mating opportunities and receiving social support from friends and family.
  Marketers will find this approach satisfying as Miller points out that we have been relying on an outdated model for understanding what drives consumers to want and buy things-namely Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. Spent’s model suggests that humans display conspicuous waste, conspicuous precision, and conspicuous reputation to signal mating and social fitness. (You’ll have to read the book for specifics.) Fitness indicators manifest themselves through general intelligence and five personality factors. (If you are familiar with the NEO Personality Inventory, you’ll recognize these factors.) When applied to market segmentation, message creation, and media selection, it is my belief that marketers will find this approach more profitable and more socially responsible than the conventional “marketing as a business process” method.
  From a literary point of view, most will find this book an easy read. Miller’s writing is in the pop-intellectual style made fashionable by Gladwell, but the academician occasionally bleeds through. He offers a fair amount of social commentary which is often arguable, but always well thought out and provocative.
  
  

  
  

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• 5 out of 5
  
  
  by getAbstract from Switzerland | Feb 15, 2010
  

  How evolutionary psychology applies to marketing
  
  Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller examines modern consumer culture through a scientific lens. The result is thought-provoking, useful and often witty, but a bit uneven. Miller does of fine job of explaining evolutionary psychology and, especially, of showing how the endless purchases that define “consumerist capitalism” come from an unacknowledged need to demonstrate physical characteristics or personality traits to others. This section of the book will interest anyone seeking original social critique. The highly focused discussion of the “Central Six” personality traits provides a stable foundation for evaluating other people or marketing to them. The final section, in which Miller proposes social alternatives to consumerism, challenges existing culture, but is not nearly as convincing (or, strangely) as witty as the earlier sections. getAbstract recommends this book to marketing and human resources professionals, and to any reader who wants to think deeply about the foundations of societies and their economies.
  
  To learn more about this title, check out the following Web page: http://www.getabstract.com/summary/12146...

  
  

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• 3 out of 5
  
  
  by Judy from Victoria, BC, Canada | Dec 14, 2009
  

  Haven't finished this yet, but I love it. One of those books that when you're reading it, "explains everything." In this case, status seeking consumerism.
  Take two: OK, I should have waited before reviewing. It's definitely an entertaining book that will hold your interest, but it gets more than a bit nutty as it progresses. I strongly agree with the central thesis: there are more effective was to signal our fitness (intelligence, agreeableness, conscientiousness, etc.) than by consuming mass produced products and services. I even agree that a major driver of consumerism is a narcissistic need to display. But evo-psyche has it's own set of blinkers, to which Miller is not immune, despite his appealing and self-deprecating narrative voice. I don't believe that human personality can be reduced to 6 traits, for example. Still, a good, thought provoking read. I think he asks the right questions, but I'm not so sure about his answers.

  
  
   2 people found this review helpful
  
  

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• 3 out of 5
  
  
  by Starfire from Auckland, E7, New Zealand | Mar 3, 2010
  

  I originally picked this up because I was going through a kick of reading books about different aspects sexuality - this book, however, is more about evolutionary psychology and consumerism (and to a lesser extent, marketing), than it is about sexuality.
  
  Despite this, I kept reading it, because the author does have some interesting ideas, even if they're presented in a style I found myself needing to take in fairly small doses at a single reading session.
  
  Basically, the field of Evolutionary Psychology looks at psychology in terms of the evolutionary triggers that caused us to develop certain psychological traits (and yes, it's heavy on trait psychology). I don't find any of the actual individual premises particularly challenging at their roots, but I did find the intense cynicsm and constant snark and smugness with thich they were presented, especially when combined with the judgementality of pretty much anyone who didn't share the author's snide comments about what was and wasn't scientifically reasonable, a tad much in too large an amounts.
  
  I also have a gut issue with psychological theories that claim to address every instance of absolutely everything that relates to behaviour or motivation; and can twist and colour any particular instance to fit underneath their umbrella. Perhaps it's just that I personally dislike the implication that I'm being told "You may think within yourself that you did X thing for Y reason, but I know better than you that you really did it because of Z, and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you can tell me is going to convince me to allow for the possibility that I might be wrong." Especially when it's stated with this level of smugness.
  
  So did I find the book interesting? Absolutely, and it's given me some new ways of thinking about and understanding some of my own behaviours and motivations that make a lot of sense to me. Did I enjoy it though? I'd have to say "No" there. While the snark, smugness and snide digs were actually kind of fun (in an uncomfortable, "schadenfreude" way) in places, it really got too much very quickly, and I think the book would have been a much better read without it. Of course, that may just be a clash of personal styles, so if you enjoy schadenfreude, snideness and psychology, this may well be the book for you.

  
  

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• 5 out of 5
  
  
  by Cheri from Portsmouth, NH | Jan 26, 2010
  

  A fun look at modern consumer culture through the eyes of an evolutionary psychologist, Spent explores how hardwired status seeking and the Big 5 personality traits – openness, conscientiousness,agreeableness, stability & extroversion – as well as general intelligence influence consumer behavior.
  
  From the social psychology of consumer narcissism to conspicuous consumption as fitness signaling, Geoffrey Miller analyzes how the goods and services we buy unconsciously advertise our biological potential as mates and friends. His analysis is witty and spot on, however the book starts to fall apart a little in the end when he talks about alternatives to consumerism.
  
  Incredibly interesting and a must read for marketing types and anyone interested in consumer culture.

  
  

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