What’s health got to do with it?

This research paper, published by the Stockholm Environment Institute, synthesizes two studies commissioned by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation to evaluate the impact of health-focused marketing messages on the purchase of clean cookstoves in Cambodia and Kenya. Both studies concluded that health messaging had a minimal effect on stove purchases, with price and functional benefits remaining the primary drivers of adoption.

• Health-focused messaging had a minimal impact on the actual purchase of clean cookstoves in both Cambodia and Kenya, suggesting that public health goals for cleaner cooking may require approaches beyond individual health-based marketing.
• The cost of clean cookstoves is a primary barrier to adoption. In Cambodia, the ACE-1 stove cost US$100 upfront or US$115 on installments, which is high relative to the 2014 gross national income per capita of $1,020.
• In Cambodia, the skill, motivation, and personality of individual sales agents were the most significant factors affecting sales. One proactive agent was responsible for 24 of the 34 total stoves sold during the campaign.
• Health awareness levels vary by region. In Cambodia, the campaign successfully increased awareness of the harmful effects of biomass smoke, particularly through positive-tone messaging. In Kenya, the campaign had little impact on awareness because baseline awareness was already high.
• Beyond health, the primary drivers for purchasing improved stoves included functional benefits such as fuel savings, reduced cooking time, and specific features like the ability to charge phones via the stove's battery fan.
• In Kenya, a goal-setting intervention combined with measures to remove purchase obstacles was the only treatment that showed a statistically significant impact on the likelihood of participants changing their cookstove.
• The research suggests that health promotion is only effective if the means to change behavior are accessible and affordable; without innovative financing, high costs overshadow health-based motivations.
• In Cambodia, combining door-to-door sales with village group events was more effective than door-to-door sales alone, as group events are perceived as more trustworthy and create social pressure to decide.

APA

Johnson, O., Lambe, F., & Ochieng, C. (2016). What’s health got to do with it? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2016-04-SNV-cookstoves-health-Cambodia-Kenya.pdf

Chicago

Johnson, Oliver, Fiona Lambe, and Caroline Ochieng. What’s health got to do with it? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2016. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2016-04-SNV-cookstoves-health-Cambodia-Kenya.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Johnson |first1=Oliver |last2=Lambe |first2=Fiona |last3=Ochieng |first3=Caroline |title=What’s health got to do with it? |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=June 2016 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2016-04-SNV-cookstoves-health-Cambodia-Kenya.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{johnson2016whats, author = {Johnson, Oliver and Lambe, Fiona and Ochieng, Caroline}, title = {{What’s health got to do with it?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2016}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2016-04-SNV-cookstoves-health-Cambodia-Kenya.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }