17/08/2009ARCHIVEDAn Audience with Professor Geoffrey Miller

A film of this event can now be viewed here

Evolution loves narcissism. Almost all animal species, including humans, have evolved various traits for showing off to others. These ‘fitness indicators’ display the individual’s genetic quality, physical condition, and behavioural competence, in order to attract interest from mates, kin, and allies, and to deter sexual rivals and predators.

Consumers are no exception, with strong unconscious instincts to display not just wealth, status, and taste, but deeper, more universal mental traits such as general intelligence and the ‘Big Five’ personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability). These six traits are fundamental to consumer identity, sexuality, and sociality, but remain virtually unknown in business schools, consumer research, and marketing practice.

This talk will explain how our trait-display instincts evolved, how they work in 21st century consumerist capitalism, and how marketers can connect their brand personalities more directly to the six traits that consumers unconsciously strive to display.

According to IPA President, Rory Sutherland, Geoffrey Miller’s book Spent: Sex, Evolution, and the Secrets of Consumerism is the one book on marketing and advertising you should read this year. See Rory’s blog on the subject

To purchase your own copy visit: http://tinyurl.com/spent-geoffreymiller  

Geoffrey Miller is a leading evolutionary psychologist fascinated by the origins of human nature and its implications for consumer behaviour, marketing, and branding. In more than 70 papers and book chapters, he has investigated human sexuality, mate choice, person perception, social cognition, trait display, behaviour genetics, intelligence, personality traits, and moral virtues. His books include The Mating Mind (2000; published in 14 languages), Mating Intelligence (2007), and most recently Spent (2009).

After a B.A. from Columbia University (1987) and a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1993), he worked at the University of Sussex, University of Nottingham, University College London, London School of Economics, UCLA, and the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research in Munich. He is now Associate Professor of Psychology at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, USA, and a visiting scientist in Genetic Epidemiology at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia.

Miller won the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize in Economics for his paper ‘Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap-dancers’. His research has often been covered by Science,
The Economist, New Scientist, and The New York Times, and he regularly appears in science TV documentaries such as The Great Sperm Race on Channel 4. He has consulted for clients, such as Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Sainsbury’s, and other clients.

He lives in Albuquerque with his wife, daughter, and border collie, and enjoys various goods and services. 

Tickets cost £25 plus VAT for members and £50 plus VAT for non-members.

Programme:
6.00pm Drinks Reception
6.30pm Presentation
7.30pm Q&A Session
7.45pm Close

Please note, bookings requesting to be paid by invoice will incur a 10% administration fee, and tickets will not be refunded 48 hours before the event, unless a waiting list is in operation