Adoption of e-government services

Gobierno electrónico mediante diferentes plataformas digitales en un grupo de ciudadanos de una ciudad Argentina

Este trabajo analiza los determinantes socio-demográficos de la adopción del gobierno electrónico de ciudadanos mediante diferentes plataformas digitales. Se realiza un análisis exploratorio descriptivo con datos de una encuesta online realizada entre octubre y noviembre del 2020 a un grupo de ciudadanos de Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Se estimaron tres modelos según la definición de gobierno electrónico (GE): GE amplio (web y redes sociales), GE tradicional (web) y GE por redes sociales. Entre los resultados, se destaca que los ciudadanos utilizan la web más que las redes sociales para contactar al gobierno local. Cuanto mayor es la edad del ciudadano, o mayor es su nivel educativo, mayor es la propensión al GE, salvo en el último modelo. Asimismo, el género femenino explica positivamente la propensión a realizar GE en todos los modelos. En el modelo tradicional, tanto la experiencia en GE como la influencia social y ocupación, ejercen un efecto positivo.

Exploration of the usability quality attributes of mobile government services: a literature review

This article investigates and analyzes the usability quality attributes of mobile government services. The lack of previous research in the area of mobile government service quality encourages the researchers of the current work to select the usability quality dimension, which is considered one of the most significant parts of the mobile government service quality framework. Using the systematic literature reviews in the area of usability in human-computer interaction and software design, the main attributes are extracted and analyzed to fit into the context of mobile government services. Five quality attributes of the usability dimensions are identified for evaluation of the quality of services of mobile government. These attributes are efficiency, satisfaction, memorability, error and compatibility. The present research proposes a model that can be used to evaluate the usability of mobile government services. The attributes were extracted according to the mobility features with consideration of the service category (Government-To-Citizens). By measuring the usability quality of the mGovernment portal by the electronic government agencies, it leads to understanding the degree of usability of the provided services from the public's perspective.

Sustainable Adoption of E-Government from the UTAUT Perspective

This paper attempts to study the sustainable adoption of e-government services in northern Iraq. The well-known unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is applied and extended to study citizens’ behavior regarding e-government services. A quantitative technique was utilized to gauge the efficiency of the model. Overall, 371 replies were received through distributing samples. SPSS software was used for the data evaluation. Two extra constructs were introduced in the study, i.e., “Trust of system (TOS)” and “Ethics of Internet (EOI)”, into the original UTAUT as the theoretical extension. The findings indicate that all constructs have a significant influence on the intention to use e-government services. Moreover, the EOI moderates the effects of TOS on social impacts (SI), performance expectancy (PE), and behavior intention (BI). The results also indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the demographic characteristics of age, educational level excluding gender, and behavioral intention to use e-government services. The study’s results support most of the hypotheses. The results contribute to a better knowledge of the factors affecting the sustainable adoption of e-government in northern Iraq.

Enablers and Challenges for E-health Services- A Systematic Literature Review

The purpose of the paper is to systematically review the literature of enablers and challenges for implementation and adoption e-health service. The review aims to identify the most critical success factors and barriers related with the development and growth of the e-health services under different circumstances. A total 68 relevant publications related to enablers and challenges of e-health services were selected from a total 694 research papers. These publications were thoroughly reviewed to find out the critical factors influencing the e-health services. The findings indicate that there are five broad factors viz. technological, environmental, organizational, social and economical along with four major stakeholders’ viz. citizens, patients, caregivers and service providers which influence the e-health services. These factors act as enablers as well as challenges for proper implementation and adoption of e-health services in different situations. On the basis of the findings of the review, a conceptual diamond model of e-health services adoption has been proposed.

An examination of the e-government service value chain

Purpose

E-government quality (e-GovQual) and e-government user value (e-GUV) are multidimensional concepts. While previous studies have identified apparent factors influencing e-government satisfaction (e-GovSat) and e-government adoption intention (e-GovAI), such as e-GovQual and e-GUV, but they have neglected to explain the influence of the dimensions of these two concepts. The purpose of this research is to study e-government service value chain (e-GSVC) one-GovQual dimensions, e-GUV dimensions, e-GovSat and e-GovAI.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs a quantitative method to test the hypotheses and validate the proposed model. Data are collected from 378 e-government users across different parts of India comprising of different demographic characteristics. The model is analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings highlight the impact of the dimensions of e-GovQual (efficiency, trust, reliability and citizen support) on the dimensions of e-GUV (functional, economic, social and emotional value) as e-GUV dimensions affect e-GovSat, which in turn influences e-GovAI. The results validate the e-GSVC and also stress the partial mediating role of the dimensions of e-GUV on the relationship between the dimensions of e-GovQual and e-GovSat.

Research limitations/implications

The sample size of 378 may not be a proper representation of a country like India, which has huge diversity within its vast population.

Practical implications

The study offers practitioners a clear picture and a useful guide to better understand the drivers of value, satisfaction and adoption in the case of e-government users.

Originality/value

This study is probably the first attempt toward demonstrating the process influencing e-GovSat via e-GUV dimensions originating from excellent e-GovQual dimensions to ultimately trigger e-GovAI.

An examination of citizen satisfaction with mandatory e-government services: comparison of two information systems success models

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the utility of information systems (IS) success models in mandatory e-government services, as opposed to the volitional ones that have been the focus of previous studies. The models include the technology acceptance model (TAM) (1989) and Seddon’s model (1997), which involve three (ease of use, usefulness and citizens satisfaction) and four variables (system quality, information quality, usefulness and citizen satisfaction).

Design/methodology/approach

The models were compared based on a survey conducted on 780 foundation year students of government universities in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Government has launched a mandatory e-government service geared to assist high school graduates in the university academic admission process. The goodness-of-fit and parsimony of fit indices and the explanatory power were used to compare the two models.

Findings

The structural equation modeling techniques revealed that overall, the two models both exhibited reasonable fit with the collected data, whereas TAM showed the best fit to the sample data and yielded superior goodness-of-fit indices over Seddon’s model. In terms of explanatory power, Seddon’s model predicted 28% (R2 = 0.28) of the variance explained for citizen satisfaction, whereas TAM predicted 21% (R2 = 0.21). All the parsimony of fit indices favored TAM over Seddon’s model.

Research limitations/implications

This study examined the validity of TAM and Seddon’s model, using citizen satisfaction as the dependent variable to compare them. TAM and Seddon’s model were modified to better fit the current research context of mandatory e-government services; thus, the findings may not hold for their original or other voluntary settings. In addition, the focus on a single survey for a certain time in a certain territory of mandatory e-government service may have limited the generalizability of the results to other mandatory contexts. Future research should make use of large, cross-sectional samples in different mandatory contexts to enhance result generalization.

Practical implications

This study’s findings can provide e-government practitioners with deeper perceptions of how to address citizen satisfaction with mandatory e-government services. The results exposed usefulness as the common and major construct, having the strongest influence on citizen satisfaction in both TAM and Seddon’s model; thus, maximizing the benefits of e-government services for citizens is crucial to their success. The causal relationship between information quality and citizen satisfaction was not supported. This supports the perspective that e-government services are currently evolving quickly, becoming more integrated and easier-to-use, generally requiring only a few clicks and less information.

Originality/value

This study has extended the assessment of the validity of IS success models to a mandatory IS usage setting. The comparison study of different IS success models is crucial as it acts as a guide for researchers to determine the trade-off between the models used to conduct research on a particular context. The study concludes that TAM is the most parsimonious and universal model for the study of user satisfaction in mandatory contexts. The findings will provide e-government practitioners with insights into IS success measures suited to enhance the effectiveness of newly and future mandated e-government services.

Identifying factors affecting the acceptance of government to government system in developing nations – empirical evidence from Nepal

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the factors that might influence the acceptance of government-to-government (G2G) systems in the Government of Nepal (GoN), to enhance the communication for coordination among government agencies.

Design/methodology/approach

After reviewing the Unified Model for E-Government Acceptance (UMEGA), interviews, focus group discussions with government officials and interviews with the retired senior government officials, a conceptual model has been proposed. The model is empirically tested with 234 responses collected from the government officials working in the central ministries of GoN using the structural equation modeling technique.

Findings

The result showed that factors considered from UMEGA such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and attitude have a significant influence on the behavioral intention to use the system in the GoN. Also, the identified factors such as a commitment from leadership, awareness among leadership and transparency have a significant influence on the behavioral intention of the users to accept the system.

Research limitations/implications

The low sample size is one of the major limitations of this research.

Practical implications

The findings show that the identified factors have a significant influence on the acceptance model and provide useful insights to policymakers, government officials and system developers to achieve the successful implementation of the e-government system in Nepal. The findings can be used by the academicians and e-government practitioners to extend it to other developing nations.

Originality/value

This research work explores the factors affecting the acceptance of a G2G system in GoN through the modification of the UMEGA model. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a novel research in the context of Nepal, where the implementation of e-government has been analyzed from the perspectives of acceptance models to support the better implementation of e-governance systems.

Reputation Cues as Signals in the Sharing Economy

Reputation cues, like star ratings, signal qualities of service providers in the sharing economy and may affect user behavior. Guided by concepts from signaling theory and using a repeated measures experiment (N = 221), this study manipulated the level of star ratings of ride sharing drivers. Intuitive findings are perceived service quality and willingness to use the service provider are higher when the star rating is high versus low. Extending prior work, perceived service quality mediates the effect of reputation on willingness, explaining 83% of the total effect. Also, the direct effect of reputation cues on perceived service quality depends, albeit weakly (η2p = 0.02), on how much users say they pay attention to them. These novel findings clarify the kinds of mental processing that occur when users of shared services evaluate reputation cues. We discuss findings in terms of costly signaling and consider practical implications for users and providers.

Policymakers’ perspective about e-Government success using AHP approach

Purpose

The e-Government has a potential to entrench Good Governance in Pakistan. However, this technology could not be successfully developed and implemented in public sector – despite of efforts made by the Government. Consequently, public sector is suffering from bad Governance, which ultimately affects the Governance as well as e-Government ranking of Pakistan in the globe – as indicated by the UN surveys and other relevant indices. This paper aims to propose a novel techno-policy framework for its successful implementation by considering all relevant critical success factors (CSFs) and determining their relative importance from policymakers’ perspective. Further, it aims to excerpt the root causes of e-Government failure in Pakistan and to derive valuable policy implications for its success in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The techno-policy framework was developed by identifying all the CSFs and assimilating them by deploying the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach. The survey instrument was designed to compare all the CSFs on the basis of AHP scale and to collect the socio-demographic data. An interview based survey of all the concerned stakeholders was conducted to know their perspective about the proposed framework and to determine their relative importance about all the CSFs. Finally, the empirical estimations were performed by using the Expert-Choice decision-making system.

Findings

The analysis of empirical results depicts that among CSFs’ main-categories –Governanceis the most important; whereas, theManagementandResourcesare relatively more important; however, theSocio-Economicsis relatively less important for the e-Government success in Pakistan. Further, among CSFs’ sub-categories –Political, Managerial, Legislative, Non-Technical, andTechnicalare relatively more important thanSocial, Economic, andScopefor the e-Government success in Pakistan. Lastly, among all CSFs –Political Stability, Managerial Strategy, ICT Policies, Funding, Portal Technology, Education & Skills, Cost, andAutonomyare the most important factors of their respective categories, and which can positively affect the e-Government success in Pakistan.

Research limitations/implications

This study fills the gap caused by paucity of literature in terms of empirical based techno-policy research in the e-Government domain – from implementation perspective. Further, it serves as a prototype for the prospective researchers, who aim to conduct policy oriented research toward e-Government development in their respective regions.

Practical implications

The key findings, policy implications & recommendations of this study are quite valuable and of practical significance for the government, policymakers, practitioners, researchers and all the concerned stakeholders and beneficiaries. Further, this study paves a way forward toward entrenching the Good Governance in Pakistan.

Originality/value

This study contributes in several ways. It highlights the significance of e-Government as a technology for attaining Good Governance in Pakistan. Further, it presents consolidated view of all the concerned stakeholders toward the successful implementation of all e-Government programs in Pakistan. Finally, it provides a guideline for the government agencies to formulate their e-Government policy and strategy as per the needs of all stakeholders in Pakistan.

Factors affecting the continued use of e-government websites by citizens

Purpose

The concept of eGovernment has received much focus and emphasis across the public administrative sector, with interest centred on its public performance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Accordingly, this paper aims to consider those factors affecting the continuous adoption of eGovernment websites by citizens in the context of Jordan, through the design and development of a conceptual model, five factors included, notably digital literacy, e-service marketing efficiency, e-service quality, compulsory e-service utilisation and public staff assistance in regards the transformation of e-service.

Design/methodology/approach

To conduct this paper, a quantitative approach was used, after operationalising variables into indicators; data were gathered through the application and completion of a questionnaire survey, by public-sector subjects making up a sample of 237 individuals purposively sampled, wit structural equation modelling was applied to analyse data.

Findings

The results garnered emphasise digital literacy and e-service quality as important factors amongst citizens in Jordan in regards their intention to use, on a continuous basis, eGovernment websites, providing an explanation across 42 per cent of the variance in this regard. On the other hand, the other three factors of e-service marketing efficiency, compulsory e-service use and public staff assistance in regards the transformation of e-service were not identified as significant in terms of their influence on the intention to adopt the ongoing use of eGovernment websites among citizens in the Jordanian context indicating some issues that challenge the eGovernment success.

Research limitations/implications

This work’s findings are survey-based, subsequent studies could make use of qualitative methods in mind of achieving more detailed and comprehensive understanding of the links between the factors outlined in this study, further, there is the suggestion that other longitudinal and experimental works be completed to establish the links outlined in this study.

Practical implications

For eGovernment websites continued usage to be efficacious, several facilitating and supporting conditions are vital, including technical and managerial sustenance, as well as supporting policies and regulations that put eGovernment websites into the compulsory utilisation, which requires all the other affecting factors to be in line with facilitating such compulsory orientation.

Originality/value

Many studies have been done on exploring the factors that affect the initial adoption of eGovernment websites; however –and up to the author knowledge – this is the first study that explore the second stage of the adoption process, namely, continued use in the context of a developing country such as Jordan. This work will therefore provide a contribution to the eGovernment literature in specific relation to continued use. This will be done through taking into account all five of these factors.

Factors influencing e-government adoption in India: a qualitative approach

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that enable citizens to adopt e-government services in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured interviews.

Findings

The study reveals novel e-government adoption factors, namely, auxiliary facilities, corruption avoidance, transparency and fairness in process, customer support, connectedness and forced adoption, previously unexplored in e-government adoption literature. In addition, the results highlight 17 e-government adoption factors that strengthen the findings from previous literature.

Research limitations/implications

This study was qualitative in nature, and rather than generalization, the focus was explicitly on obtaining an in-depth understanding. The sample used was sufficient for the purpose of this study and allowed reasonable conclusions to be drawn; however, it cannot be considered representative of a vast country like India. Academicians and information systems researchers can use these findings for further research.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provide useful insights into the decision-making process of e-government services users in India and similar emerging economies. These findings can be important for government officials tasked with providing e-government services.

Originality/value

Previous studies in the context of e-government adoption, so far, have tried to integrate adoption factors from previous technology adoption models. Hence, these studies have not been able to capture the complete essence of e-government characteristics. In addition, there are limited studies in e-government adoption in the Indian context.

Taxonomic framework for factors influencing ERMS adoption in organisations of higher professional education

An electronic records management system (ERMS) is tightly linked with most of the daily activities of educational organisations and leads to enhance their performance and decision-making. The aim of this article is to identify the significant factors that could influence the ERMS adoption in higher professional education (HPE). The methodology of this article started with identifying the factors through theory analysis and literature and also recommended by experts. Technology–organisation–environment (TOE) theory was used for factor classification. Qualitative approach was used through the interview with experts to validate and verify the proposed framework. This article presents the results of a study which identifies the issues involved in the utilisation and adoption of ERMS. More than 100 previous works and six well-known theories were critically reviewed to identify the main factors for successful ERMS adoption in different areas with the aim of proposing a taxonomic framework that can depict and identify the main factors that have an impact on the success of ERMS adoption. The proposed framework includes 11 factors categorised into three dimensions. The framework is validated and verified by experts. The adoption factors identified here provide a sound theoretical basis for research to understand, support and facilitate the adoption of ERMS to HPE benefit. The proposed framework could help to improve educational outcomes and the successful implementation of ERMS.

Perception of corruption in e-government services post-launch of “Digital India”: role of demographic variables

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to underline the role of demographic variables as far as the perception of corruption among the Indian respondents is concerned.

Design/methodology/approach

Hierarchical regression analysis is conducted to ascertain the role of demographic variables in line with the study’s objectives.

Findings

Gender is a demographic factor that influences the perception of corruption by the respondents. Other demographic factors including education, marital status, professional status and age do not have any influence on the user perception of corruption in e-government services. Implicitly, there are differences in the manner in which men and women perceive the prevalence of corruption in India. Therefore, males perceive that corruption has decreased in e-government services post-launch of “Digital India” initiative and women perceive the opposite.

Research limitations/implications

On the one hand, the study holds significance, in that no empirical investigation has been conducted which seeks to underline the impact of the “Digital India” initiatives on the citizen’s perception of corruption in public services. On the other hand, the present research is limited in the sense that only demographic variables are being probed in the present study with a small sample.

Originality/value

Studies in developing countries have remained few and far between despite the growing concern for existence of corruption in government services. The present study seeks to fill the gap by underlining the role of demographic variables as far as the perception of corruption in public services is concerned in the Indian context.

The moderating effect of management maturity on the implementation of an information platform system

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the satisfaction level of government employees toward the e-government information platform system in Taiwan to better understand the effectiveness of such systems. Furthermore, this paper aimed to investigate the moderating effects of management maturity on quality management and user satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examined the questionnaire via a pretest, and then 174 formal questionnaires were obtained from people who had used the focal information platform system.

Findings

The results show that management maturity has a high, positive moderating effect on service quality (SQ), a medium moderating effect on system quality (SysQ), and a low, negative moderating effect on information quality (IQ).

Research limitations/implications

One limitation of this study is that the survey was conducted at one public agency in Taiwan. Therefore, a suggestion for further research is to focus on both public and private corporations, as well as government agencies.

Practical implications

This study built a moderating model for 3Q and management maturity, in order to provide quality management directions, especially with regard to information management, system establishment, and service management.

Originality/value

Management maturity is a vital, albeit long neglected, determinant for the success of the adoption of e-government information systems (ISs). Such ISs serve only as a tool, and it is those who operate the systems that put their functions into full play. Given this, management maturity is likely to be the key to the successful operation of ISs.

Prioritization of citizens’ preferences for using mobile government services

Purpose

The identification of key criteria that influence citizens’ preferences for using m-government services, prioritization of these criteria and making them consistent with the development of m-government services can improve the relationship of the government with citizens and vice versa. The purpose of this study is to investigate and prioritize the criteria that influence the usage of m-government services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), using the technology acceptance model (TAM) and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, along with external variables of perceived security and perceived privacy.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach has been applied using a questionnaire with a nine-point scale for collecting data. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach has been deployed to structure and prioritize citizens’ preferences and select users of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) application.

Findings

The results of the data analysis showed that the first criteria, which refer to the intention to use m-government services, were ease of use and perceived security and were given the highest priority, and the criterion of observability was given the lowest priority.

Originality/value

This study integrates the DOI and TAM theories with other external variables such as perceived security and perceived privacy to develop a conceptual framework. AHP has been used to structure and prioritize the main criteria and sub-criteria of m-government services. The results can assist the m-government decision-makers and software developers in focusing on the criteria that should be considered for the development of m-government services.

The relation of e-government quality on public trust and its impact on public participation

Purpose

This paper aims to answer a major challenge in the success of electronic government (e-government) implementation, viz., public participation via continual use intention and electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM). This study tries to provide some control by examining the impact of e-government quality on public trust and with continual use intention and eWoM. This study adopts the eminent information systems (IS) success model and expands the trust dimension into a multi-dimensional trust.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using questionnaires distributed among e-government service users in Indonesia. In total, 293 respondents were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

Findings

Of the three IS success factors, namely, systems quality, information quality and service quality, the former two are found to have significant correlation with trust. Dispositional trust has a substantial relationship with institutional trust and interpersonal trust, whereas institutional trust has a significant correlation with interpersonal trust. Institutional trust exhibits direct relationship with continual use intention and eWoM, whereas interpersonal trust has a significantly correlation with only continual use intention.

Research limitations/implications

This study suggests that it is plausible that user satisfaction could act as an intermediary between service quality and trust or between service quality and continual use intention. Thus, further research studies to examine satisfaction factor and its correlation with public acceptance are encouraged.

Practical implications

Government agencies should focus on information quality and systems quality which have a significant relation with trust development. These should be more thorough and meticulous to provide complete, secure and easy-to-use e-government information. These should also facilitate eWoM because it plays an important role in disseminating e-government (services).

Originality/value

This research provides a deeper and more accurate grasp on how public participation of e-government can be improved via trust.

A multi-analytical model for mobile banking adoption: a developing country perspective

Purpose

Mobile banking (Mbanking) is one of the most widely used mobile technology applications in recent times. This research aims to develop and test a research model by integrating social influence, trust and compatibility along with demographic variables into the original technology acceptance model (TAM) for Mbanking adoption which can be useful for understanding individual behaviours from an international business perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through a structured survey from 208 Omani Mbanking users and analysed using a two-staged regression and neural network (NN) model.

Findings

The results showed that perceived ease of use and demographic variables were not statistically significant in the multiple linear regression model, whereas the importance of the aforementioned variables was relatively high in the results obtained from the NN model. Furthermore, other predictors, namely, trust, perceived usefulness, compatibility and social influence included in the proposed research model that were established as significant by the regression model were assigned high relative importance by the NN model as well.

Practical implications

The study reflects the customer’s opinion from a developing country perspective. In addition, the research makes a significant theoretical contribution by using predictive modelling instead of causal or explanatory modelling for the development of a new and extended TAM model. The findings can be gainfully used by international business to understand Omani customer- and design-appropriate strategies for market penetration.

Originality/value

This study offers deeper understanding about Mbanking adoption from a developing country perspective and identifies and integrates important variables that influence the adoption in the aforementioned context.

Factors Influencing Citizens' Intention to Use E-Government Services

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the determinates of Korean students in China to use e-government services. A total of 400 structured research questionnaire instruments was designed and administered to potential respondents of which 93.75% responded. The Technology Acceptance Mode (TAM) was used as a theoretical framework for this study. The data gathered was analyzed with SPSS version 20. The results show that all the predictors (Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Service Quality, and Citizen Trust) investigated are significant positive determiners of Korean students' intention to adopt and use e-government services. The results further indicated that Citizen Trust positively and significantly moderated the positive relationship between perceived ease of use, perceived service quality and intention to use e-government services but failed to show any positive moderation effect on perceived usefulness and intention to use e-government services. The implications of these findings are further discussed.

Assessing the impact of readiness factors on e-government outcomes

Many have studied different factors affecting e-government performance, but there is little research on the role of readiness factors, which may impact e-government outcomes indirectly. This study presents a conceptual model with the aim of determining the role of readiness factors in the relationship between e-government factors and e-government outcomes. E-government factors are comprised of citizens, businesses, and government itself. Also, readiness factors are categorized into three main groups, namely governing, technical, and organizational. A questionnaire was designed and completed by 90 e-government senior managers at multiple government agencies of Iran expressing their opinions on several factors impacting e-government outcomes within their organizations. The results of hierarchical regression analysis strongly support the appropriateness of the proposed model and prove that readiness factors play a moderating role in the relationship between e-government factors and e-government outcomes. Also, the results of latent moderated structuring (LMS) technique show that ‘organizational’ readiness factors have the most important effect on e-government outcomes. Finally, some policy implications are provided for better understanding of the role and importance of readiness factors in theory and practice.

Use levels of electronic government services among German citizens

Purpose

To better understand the use intensity of e-government service offerings among citizens, a considerable number of studies have examined correlations between various attitudinal constructs related to such offerings and citizens’ service adoption (intentions). This investigational paper aims to take a different angle by exploring associations between a set of 11 objectively identifiable household and individual behavioral and socio-demographic characteristics on the one side and three levels of e-government services use on the other.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical analysis is based on survey responses of a random sample of 17,012 individuals residing in Germany.

Findings

Ordinal logistic regression analysis suggests that citizens with low use levels of public e-service offerings are most likely younger male persons with low levels of computer literacy, internet affinity and education, who have a migration background and live in small mid-level-income households located in rural communities.

Practical implications

The findings imply that public institutions may find it difficult to rapidly raise e-government acceptance by distributing only “technocratic” information explaining various service options. Public authorities should consider supplementing “pure” information programs by measures which ensure that the software of e-government service platforms is designed in a way guaranteeing a very high level of “usability”. Furthermore, they should analyze whether the benefits of providing e-government services in specific foreign languages outweigh the costs of such a service extension. If this is the case, an easy-to-use software menu item should be introduced which enables citizens to switch to another common foreign language.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper results from the analysis of a set of objective predictors of e-government service use in a large random sample of citizens residing in Germany, whereas most prior studies are based on surveys of small convenience samples in other countries.

A multi-analytical approach to understand and predict the mobile commerce adoption

Purpose

– The advent of mobile telephony devices with strong internet capabilities has laid the foundation for mobile commerce (m-commerce) services. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine predictors of m-commerce adoption using a modification of the widely used technology acceptance model and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model.

Design/methodology/approach

– The data were collected from 213 respondents by means of an online survey. The data were analyzed through multi analytic approach by employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and neural network modeling.

Findings

– The SEM results showed that variety of services, social influence, perceived usefulness, cost and perceived trust have significant influence on consumer’s intention to adopt m-commerce. The only exception was perceived ease of use which observed statistically insignificant influence on adoption of m-commerce. Furthermore, the results obtained from SEM were employed as input to the neural network model and results showed that perceived usefulness, perceived trust and variety of services as most important predictors in adoption of m-commerce.

Practical implications

– The findings of this study give an insight of key determinants that are important to develop suitable strategic framework to enhance the use of m-commerce adoption. In addition, it also provides an opportunity to academicians and researchers to use the framework of this study for further research.

Originality/value

– The study is among a very few studies which analyzed m-commerce adoption by applying a linear and non-linear approach. The study offers a multi-analytical model to understand and predict m-commerce adoption in the developing nation like India.