This paper summarises research into factors contributing to low levels of adoption of improved maize varieties in Honduras. Empirical analysis was based on an agricultural household model which explicitly incorporates variety characteristics into the household's optimisation process. We considered a multitude of production and consumption characteristics valued by farmers, as well as an array of household socioeconomic characteristics and measures of village-specific marketing costs. Empirical results indicated that marketing costs and production characteristics are important explanators of variety choice, whereas consumption characteristics are not, and that information deficits may be an important limiting factor to adoption of improved varieties. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.