Despite much research on the topic, persistent difficulties remain around the adoption of modern cookstoves. This study aims to increase understandings of the complex decision making processes behind stove and fuel choice and identify barriers and opportunities to facilitate transitions to improved cookstoves. Taking an inductive, explorative approach to gather rich detail, in-depth interviews were conducted with 75 urban and rural people in Kenya which were then analyzed using adaptive theory to determine key issues. The study found the better off urban respondents all engaged a cookstove stacking approach, but contrary to previous understandings, this was less about an unwillingness to give up a traditional stove than it was a result of only being able to afford modern fuels for some of their cooking needs. They would then ration out the use of a modern stove to the meals when the perceived benefits of the stove were most in need, such as speed during busy periods, and use the traditional stove to fill in the gaps more cheaply. People in the poorer, rural group were very optimistic about the process of moving to modern stoves and fuels but completely unable to afford them. These findings indicate that price rather than preference is the dominant factor to the purchase and continued use of modern cookstoves. The paper frames these results to reemphasize the need to address price barriers of modern cookstoves, through subsidization, to facilitate increased adoption rates among the poorest users.
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