The Internet as a Service Channel in the Public Sector : A substitute or complement of traditional service channels?

The Internet has been used as a channel for public service delivery since the mid 1990’s. During the first years of its existence it was believed to be the service channel of the future, making all other channels obsolete. But until now, the telephone and face-to-face contact remain being used more frequently and are rated higher. By comparing various studies that have recently been conducted in a number of countries, this paper suggests that the characteristics of the channel make it a suitable channel for basic transactions and simple information provision, and that the telephone and face-to-face contact remain prevalent for at least ambiguous and complex tasks. Therefore the Internet might be a complementary channel rather than a substitute of traditional channels. Research findings are interpreted by means of Media Richness Theory, the Social Influence model and Channel Expansion Theory

Channel Choice Determinants; an exploration of the factors that determine the choice of a service channel in citizen initiated contacts

Citizens have various service channels at their disposal to interact with governmental agencies. In this paper we explore citizens’ motives to choose a certain channel in a certain situation. We conducted a qualitative study to accumulate the most important behavioral determinants. Six groups of determinants were found; habit, channel characteristics, task characteristics, situational constraints, experiences and personal characteristics. People appear to generally follow two lines of decision making when choosing channels, the first is based on habits. When task complexity and ambiguity increase, people start reasoning and follow the second line; channel choice based on a thorough elaboration between task and channel characteristics

Governmental Service Channel Positioning: History and Strategies for the Future

Governmental agencies have various service channels at their disposal for the service interactions with their citizens. The rise of the Internet as a service channel led many to believe the Internet would make all other service channels obsolete. Until now this expectation remains unfulfilled, as research discussed in this paper makes clear. All other channels still exist and the Internet in many cases did not lead to a decrease in the usage of other channels. Across the globe organizations are re-shaping their service channel mix, to find the optimal mix of service channels. This article reviews various historical phases in service channel positioning and discusses the strategies in use during the phases. The paper concludes with presenting a new multi-channel channel positioning strategy that combines private organization

De burger is een gewoontedier

Overheidsorganisaties denken vaak dat de burger een weldenkend rationeel wezen is die weloverwogen kiest op welke wijze hij wil communiceren met de overheid. Dat valt in de praktijk nogal tegen. Gewoonte blijkt de belangrijkste voorspeller van de kanaalkeuze van Nederlandse burgers, zo blijkt uit onderzoek van de Universiteit Twente. Verder blijkt dat de emotie bij de kanaalkeuze een prominente rol speelt

Informed Consent to Address Trust, Control, and Privacy Concerns in User Profiling

More and more, services and products are being personalised or\ud tailored, based on user-related data stored in so called user profiles or user\ud models. Although user profiling offers great benefits for both organisations and\ud users, there are several psychological factors hindering the potential success of user profiling. The most important factors are trust, control and privacy\ud concerns. This paper presents informed consent as a means to address the\ud hurdles trust, control, and privacy concerns pose to user profiling

The Relationship Between Outbound and Inbound Communication in Government-to-Citizen Interaction

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Omni-Channel Overtures:Defining the Concept and Its Applicability in Public Sector Channel Management

The channel landscape and citizens' channel behaviors are continuously evolving. This challenges how governments manage service delivery and their available service channels. To address these challenges, a new type of strategy has surfaced in the literature on private sector channel management; omni-channel management. But could the omni-channel concept be applied in the public sector context as well? More importantly: could it address the current challenges in the channel landscape? Currently no comprehensive studies exist that examine omni-channel management in a public sector setting. Therefore, we present relevant developments in the channel landscape and discuss how an omni-channel approach could be applied in the public sector

El nuevo mundo del trabajo y la necesidad de un empoderamiento digital

Por lo general, se suelen hacer referencias a la alfabetización digital de los migrantes forzados, incluyendo la utilización de sus teléfonos inteligentes para organizar viajes o comunicarse una vez que llegan a sus destinos. Sin embargo, otras competencias digitales, como las relacionadas con el lugar de trabajo, son muy importantes para apoyar su integración