Light Cigarettes

Guest: Greta Hsu, associate professor of management at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. She led the study on light cigarettes published in the American Sociological Review Labels matter a lot. A snack food says "low-fat" or "low sugar" and we are instantly convinced it is good for us. An apple labeled "organic" conjures a pastoral orchard scene where everything is done naturally and by hand. Research by sociologist Greta Hsu at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management finds companies have increasingly taken advantage of our willingness to believe such claims, even as they are changing the composition of their products to be less healthy. Her latest research, published in the American Sociological Review, investigates how the tobacco industry has manipulated consumers of "light" cigarettes.