By: Elena Mart
An interview with Dr. Jingbo Zhang on consumer health, risk perception, and marketing decision-making.
When you walk into a grocery store, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices. Frozen pizzas, sodas, cereals—each package fighting for your attention. But what if a simple set of colored circles could nudge you toward a healthier decision?
That was the question guiding Dr. Jingbo Zhang, a marketing professor at the University of Texas Permian Basin, whose recent study with Dr. Teng Ma of Emporia State University dives into how “Traffic Light” nutrition labels influence our food purchases .
A Researcher’s Curiosity: Do Labels Really Work?
“Obesity is one of the most pressing public health challenges today,” Dr. Jingbo Zhang explains. “Governments and companies around the world are experimenting with front-of-package labels to help consumers make better choices. But not all labels are equally effective.”
The duo focused on a common design—the Traffic Light label. Borrowing from everyday road signals, this system uses red, yellow, and green circles to mark levels of fat, sugar, and salt. The idea is intuitive: green means go, red means stop. But Zhang wanted to know—does this actually change what people buy?
The Experiment: Pizza, Risk, and Perception
To find out, the researchers designed an online experiment with 277 participants. Everyone was shown a frozen cheese pizza—one of America’s favorite dinner staples. Some saw it with a Traffic Light label, others with a plain black-and-white icon, and a third group saw no label at all .
But here’s the twist: the team also measured participants’ health risk perception—how much they personally worried about diet-related illnesses like obesity or heart disease.
“What we discovered is that labels don’t work in a vacuum,” Dr. Jingbo Zhang says. “How people interpret those red and green dots depends heavily on their own perception of health risks.”
The Surprising Results
The findings revealed a double-edged sword. For people with low health risk perception, the colorful Traffic Light labels actually made pizza look more appealing. They felt more positive about the product and showed a higher intention to purchase it.
For people with high health risk perception, the same labels triggered caution. The red warnings stood out, leading them to reduce their purchase intentions .
In short, the very same label could either boost or suppress sales—depending on who was looking.
Why It Matters
These insights matter not just for public health officials, but also for food companies navigating new labeling policies worldwide.
“Many governments are pushing for front-of-package labels, and brands like Nestlé and PepsiCo are experimenting with them,” Zhang notes. “But if we don’t understand the psychological side—how risk perception shapes consumer behavior—we risk implementing tools that backfire.”
For businesses, this means a label might not just be a compliance box to tick—it could influence brand perception and revenue. For policymakers, it raises questions about whether Traffic Light systems should be paired with education campaigns to ensure the “red light” actually discourages unhealthy consumption.
Looking Ahead
Dr. Jingbo Zhang sees this as just the beginning. The current study looked only at pizza, but future research will expand into other foods—like snacks, beverages, and even vegetarian options.
“At the end of the day,” Zhang says, “we want to design systems that genuinely guide people toward healthier lives—without confusing or unintentionally encouraging risky behavior.”
It’s a reminder that even the simplest signals—red, yellow, green—carry complex meanings once they meet the human mind.
Disclaimer: The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, nutritional, or professional advice. The findings discussed are based on research and individual studies, and may not apply universally. Always consult with a healthcare or nutrition professional before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Individual results may vary.
