The Influence of Trust and subjective Norms on Citizens’ Intentions to Engage in E-participation on E-government Websites

Advancements in web technology have revolutionised the way citizens interact with governments. Unlike traditional methods of communication between citizens and governments, e-participation via e-government websites enhances communication and enables citizens to become actively involved in the policy-making process. Despite the growing importance of e-participation, the potential factors influencing citizens’ engagement in e-participation have not yet been investigated. Using responses obtained from Saudi citizens, this study examines a number of factors that may influence the intentions of citizens to engage in e-participation activities on e-government websites. The results suggest that the factors of trust and subjective norms have a significant impact on citizens’ intentions to engage in e-participation activities

An investigation of the impact factors to increase citizens' engagement in e-participation on e-government in Saudi Arabia

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.The growing use of web technologies has significantly influenced how governments work and provide services to citizens. Electronic government (e-government) has been one of the major developments in recent years in both developing and developed countries. The main objective of e-government is not limited to access information but also to create new ways to improve processes, integrate government services and increase interaction with citizens. One of these ways is electronic participation (e-participation), which offers citizens a two-way communication between them and the government. E-participation, a subset of e-government, has become a common phenomenon in the governments, which are serious about using the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for strengthening the government-citizen relationship, such as the use of social networking services, online polls, discussion forum and blogs etc. Unlike traditional methods of communication between citizens and governments, e-participation activities on e-government websites enhance communication and enable citizens to become actively involved in the policy-making process. While there are many researches conducted in the field of e-government, most of these researches investigate the adoption/usage of e-government. However, previous studies failed to investigate citizens’ intention to engage in e-participation activities. The purpose of this research is to investigate the key factors that influence on citizens’ intention to engage in e-participation activities on e-government websites in Saudi Arabia. Based on literature review a conceptual model for e-participation on e-government websites proposed. Data was collected from Saudi citizens to find out their perceptions towards e-participation. Following this aim, this research answers the following main question: What are the key factors that influence on citizens’ intention to engage in E-participation on E-government websites in Saudi Arabia? In order to answer the research question, a mixed-method research approach is employed in this study, which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. First, a quantitative approach was applied to empirically test the relationship among the constructs of the proposed model. An online survey instrument is used as the method of data collection from Saudi Arabia citizens. A sample of 770 responses was used for data analysis. The data was analyzed using a structural equation modelling(SEM) statistical techniques using AMOS 22.0 to estimate the relationships between the different factors in the research model. Secondly, a qualitative study (a focus group discussion) was used to validate the survey results and provide more insights into the relationships identified. The participants in the focus groups were also the Saudi citizens. One focus group discussion, which consisted of eight participants, was conducted in this study. The participants’ responses throughout the discussion were recorded and transcribed for analysis. The quantitative results show that the proposed model is strongly supported by the data. The results of the focus group revealed the various factors influencing in citizens’ intentions to engage in e-participation, thus supporting the hypotheses and consistent with the quantitative results. The analysis of both the survey and focus group discussion results confirmed that trust, attitude, web design and subjective norms strongly influence citizens’ intention to engage in e-participation activities on e-government websites. This study contributes to the knowledge by providing an important insight and a better understanding of citizens’ intention to engage in e-participation activities on e-government websites in Saudi Arabia. The findings of this study will assist Saudi local government leaders and managers to better understand the major issues facing e-participation and enable analysis of the extent to which citizens’ online inputs reflect community-wide interests

Predicting citizens acceptance of government-led e-participation initiatives through social Media: a theoretical model

Whilst the idea of utilizing social media to advance government-led e-Participation initiatives has proliferated significantly in recent years, mostly such initiatives do not meet the intended expectations, as the majority of them fail to attract wider citizens’ audience. Overall, the key factors that could explain and predict citizens’ participation are not yet thoroughly identified. Therefore, the current study develops a theoretical citizen-centric model that seeks to explain and predict the intention of citizens’ behavior towards their involvement in government-led e-Participation initiatives through social media. The methodological approach is primarily based on utilizing and extending one of the well-known theories for describing a person acceptance behavior, namely the Theory of Planned Behavior. The model applies the main constructs of the Theory – attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control; and complements them with several constructs drawn from relevant literature. The paper contributes to understanding the reasons why citizens decide to engage or not in government-led e-Participation initiatives through social media.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A model for citizens' self-knowledge that influences intention to participate in e-government public decision making

The success of an e-government information system could be determined by the citizens' intention to participate in public decision-making to use the technology for future benefits. There is lack of participation of citizens in e-governments implementation in most developing countries where their opinions are not taken into considerations. This study has been conducted to identify the citizens' intentions to participate in the public decision-making of the e-government. The first objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence the citizens' intention to participate in the public decision-making of the e-government. The second objective examines the citizens‘ self-knowledge characteristics that will moderate the relationship between the influencing factors and the citizens‘ intentions to participate in the public decision-making of the e-government. The third objective is the development of a research model of the citizens' intentions to participate in the public decision-making of the e-government. The research utilised the quantitative approach by distributing 501 questionnaires to four groups of respondents. Only 474 questionnaires were usable, representing a 94.6 % rate. The data was analysed utilising SPSS v21 to examine the relationships between the study‘s contributing factors with the moderators. The following factors, the attitude towards act or behaviour (ATB), subjective norms (SN), social influence (SI), facilitating condition (FC), compatibility (CO), and culture (CU), were identified to influence citizen intention to participate. Their different requirements have a potential impact on the public decision-making in the e-government. The research also took into consideration other factors which would contribute as moderator factors like gender, age, level of education, social group, working sector, and Internet experiences. The research has contributed to the body of knowledge by merging the concepts of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), two concepts from the UTAUT2 theory, and one concept from the DOI theory in this research. A model for citizens‘ self-knowledge that influences intention to participate in e-government public decision making is presented

Digital media exposure, political attitudes and perceptions as antecedents of voting intentions: a Zimbabwean perspective

Thesis (Ph.D. (Business Science))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic & Business Sciences, 2017With the contemporary diffusion of media technology, the majority of researchers have come to position the Internet as a political instrument that has the potential to stimulate consumer behaviour. The Internet has expanded persistently as a news source and digital technologies have become more accessible and abound with user generated content. These digital media backdrops afford a valuable opportunity to empirically examine the effects of digital media effects on consumer decision-making. It is therefore important to examine how consumer perceptions and attitudes towards voting impact their decision-making in order for political marketers or politicians to develop coherent strategies that offer a conducive environment sufficient to influence voting decision-making. Whereas previous studies on voting behaviour have merely explored voting behaviour in a global context, the current study investigates the effect of digital media exposure on perceptual and cognitive constructs within a Zimbabwean context. Moreover, few studies have explored this topic in a consumer behaviour context amongst the Zimbabwean constituency. This study aims to determine whether digital media exposure influences voter-consumers’ intention to vote in subsequent Zimbabwe presidential elections. In order to empirically test the effect of digital media exposure on perceived image of a political party (PI); perceived image of a presidential candidate (PPC); attitude towards voting (ATV) and voting intention (VI), a conceptual model premised on the reviewed political marketing literature was developed. The model proposed four distinct domains that drive voting intentions. In this conceptualised model, digital media exposure is the predictor variable, while perceived image of the presidential candidate, attitude towards voting, perceived image of the political party, are mediators and voting intention is the single outcome variable. By exploring the significance of digital media use on voter behaviour, this study contributes towards specific contextual knowledge on consumer behaviour and political marketing in developing countries particularly Zimbabwe. The present study is positioned in the positivist research methodology, and assumes a deductive approach within the quantitative paradigm to test the proposed hypotheses. This study uses stratified probability sampling to arrive at the required number of provinces for the study. Using quantitative methodologies based on the nature of the research questions, data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 305 eligible voters from selected Provinces and Districts in Zimbabwe selected through stratified probability sampling to arrive at the required number of provinces for the study.The measuring instrument was designed from existing scales, which were adapted to suit the present study. The data analysis ii | P a g e was done in SPSS 24 for demographic data analysis and AMOS 24 was used for the structural equation modelling and path modelling. The findings support all the hypotheses in a significant way except H1 and H5. Likewise, voter-consumers’ perception of the presidential candidate has an influence on the attitude towards voting and all latter perceptual and attitudinal variables have significant influence on voting intention. Important to note about the study findings is the fact that digital media exposure has a stronger effect on perceived image of the political party (H3) than attitude towards voting (H2). However, perceived image of the political party strongly influence attitude towards voting. Remarkably, the relationship between perceived image of the presidential candidate and attitude towards voting is robust. The findings indicate that digital media exposure can have a strong influence on voting intention through attitude towards voting. The contribution of this study is threefold: Firstly, by exploring the significance of digital media exposure on voting behaviour, this study adds to contextual knowledge on relationship marketing, political brand management and experiential marketing (the final stage of the mental brand responses), consumer marketing and specifically, political marketing. Secondly, as a growing body of literature explores the use of digital technology in political campaigning/marketing to create a competitive advantage, this study provides researchers with a broad understanding of this phenomenon among voting citizens in developing countries particularly Zimbabwe. Theoretically, it is positioned in political marketing and contributes to theoretical literature that focuses on consumer behaviour, branding and brand relationship. Lastly, by investigating digital media exposure and its influence on consumers’ voting intention, the findings provided political marketing practitioners with a better understanding of strategies that can be employed to influence citizens’ voting behaviour, through the use of digital media. The study thus submits that politicians ought to pay attention to both media agenda and brand image in order to build a positive attitude towards voting which significantly influences the intention to vote. In order to maximise voter ‘purchase’, marketers can implement strategies to encourage positive behaviour from voter-consumers and exploit multi-sensory experiences in order to influence voting intentions. The study makes a significant contribution to brand management literature and consumer behaviour literature by systematically exploring the impact of media exposure on brand image and attitude towards voting in Zimbabwe. The study demonstrates that political data can be used in consumer behaviour studies and provides a theoretical method for predicting voting intentions using voter behaviour in the form of voter perception of political parties and perceived image of a presidential candidate as well as attitude towards voting. The study further highlights the significance of using digital technologies and ingenuity to create a comparative advantage as well as a differential advantage.MT 201

Alter ego, state of the art on user profiling: an overview of the most relevant organisational and behavioural aspects regarding User Profiling.

This report gives an overview of the most relevant organisational and\ud behavioural aspects regarding user profiling. It discusses not only the\ud most important aims of user profiling from both an organisation’s as\ud well as a user’s perspective, it will also discuss organisational motives\ud and barriers for user profiling and the most important conditions for\ud the success of user profiling. Finally recommendations are made and\ud suggestions for further research are given

Factors that influence behavioural intention on political party websites in South Africa

Includes bibliographical references.The underlying context of this research is a focus on political party websites and citizen usage behaviour. The background of the study investigates how the role of the party website has risen to growing prominence in the online campaign context due to the transformative nature of the Internet on modern communication, as a whole. As a result, evaluating website quality in the political arena is of strategic importance but lacks a strong body of dedicated research in the academic community. Rigourous evaluations can point to improvements in the way parties develop and use websites to engage citizens. At an aggregate level as a result of these improvements, more effective political engagement online may contribute to healthier democratic processes and more politically active citizenry. At an organisational level, for parties themselves, more effective political engagement online can produce benefits at large scale, such as expanded reach, better targeting and profiling of constituents, with significant cost-savings, increased voter turnout and improvements to public opinion

E-government adoption: a systematic review in the context of developing nations

Objective of the Study: This paper reviews the studies of e-government adoption in developing nations to come up with the factors that influence e-government adoption.Methodology/Approach: Secondary data was collected from the findings of other researches. Systematically, two reputable databases; Scopus and IEEE Explore were searched to retrieve studies of e-government adoption in developing nations.Originality/Relevance: Adoption has a key role in the successful implementation of e-government initiatives in the context of developing nations. However, minimal research has been carried out to explore determinant factors of e-government services adoption among developing nations’ citizens.Main Results: The theories and models applied in previous researches were identified. Moreover, the frequency of factors investigated in these studies was identified. The results showed that there are many studies investigated trust as an important factor of e-government adoption in developing nations, while there are other critical challenges such as security and awareness got less attention.Theoretical/Methodological Contribution: This study results may open for future research based on the gap in theories applied and the factors investigated in the context of developing nations

The online users’ perceptions toward electronic government services

Purpose: This research examines the individuals’ perceived usefulness and ease of use of the government’s electronic services (e-government). It also explores the effect of the social influences as well as of the facilitating conditions on the individuals’ intentions to use the government’s digital and mobile services. Design/methodology/approach: The researcher has adapted various measuring items from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and from the Theory of Acceptance Model to investigate the participants’ utilitarian motivations to engage with the government’s online services. The analysis involved a two-step, structural equation modelling approach that included a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that verified the constructs’ validity and reliability. Findings: There was a satisfactory fit for this study’s research model. The findings revealed that there were direct and indirect effects that predicted the individuals’ readiness to use the e-government services. The results suggest that the respondents’ perceived usefulness and ease of use of this digital technology were significant antecedents for their behavioral intention to use it. The strength of these relationships was affected by the moderating variables, include age, gender and experience. Yet, these demographic variables did not have a significant effect on the link between social influences and behavioral intention. Originality: This study reported that the citizens felt that the e-government systems were useful and easy to use for them. The research participants indicated that they will continue accessing their government’s online services. Therefore, this research implies that the public services should continue improving the facilitating conditions including the provision of service quality and capability; as well as secure accessibility to their e-government systems via digital and mobile technologies. In conclusion, this contribution identifies its limitations and suggests possible research avenues to academia.University of Malta Research Fundpeer-reviewe

Factors Affecting the Adoption of E-government in Saudi Arabia

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