User Acceptance of e-government Services: Examining an e-tax Filing and Payment System in Thailand

Abstract

E-government systems effectively deliver public services to citizens as well as improve productivity and reduce costs for government departments. A pressing issue for many governments is how to expand citizen acceptance of e-government systems. Prior studies on e-tax filing and payment systems have identified various factors for successful adoption, but do not capture the basic psychological needs of users in developing countries. This study examines the determinants of citizens’ intention to adopt an e-tax filing and payment system in Thailand. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology is integrated with self-determination theory, perceived risk, and perceived credibility to develop a model to explain the users’ acceptance of e-government services. A large-scale survey of Thai taxpayers was conducted and the results show that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, and perceived credibility are all significant factors. Perceived autonomy and perceived competence are significant antecedents for performance and effort expectancy (EE). Perceived risk and EE surprisingly did not influence users’ intentions. Several recommendations are proposed that have an immediate application for practitioners to aide in the successful adoption of e-government services.

Keywords:

• e-government services
• e-tax filing and payment system
• unified theory of acceptance and use of technology
• self-determination theory
• survey research
• Thailand

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Wannasiri Bhuasiri is a government officer of ICT Promotion and Development Usage Bureau at Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) in Thailand. She received her Ph.D. from the Global Information and Telecommunications Technology Program (ITTP) at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She has been working for the Thai government for a number of years. Her research interests include IT strategy, software engineering, MIS, e-government, e-learning, and e-society. Her papers have appeared in Computers & Education, The Kasetsart Journal: Social Sciences, Kasetsart Educational Review, and Journal of Education.

Hangjung Zo is an Associate Professor of MIS in the Department of Business and Technology Management at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Rep. of Korea. He received his Ph.D. in MIS from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA. His research interests include web services and web-based systems, e-business, e-government, software engineering, business process management, and IT strategy. His papers have appeared in several publications and have been presented at conferences, including: IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, & Cybernetics; Decision Support Systems; the Journal of Business Research; Electronic Commerce Research and Applications; Computers & Education; the Asia Pacific Journal of Information Systems, and the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). He was the chair for the 2009 ICT Innovations and Progresses in Developing Countries Workshop at ICCIT.

Hwansoo Lee is a Research Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in IT Law at Dankook University. He received his Ph.D. from Department of Business and Technology Management at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). His research focuses on Information Security & Privacy, Electronic Commerce, Platform Business, and Enterprise Information Systems. His papers have appeared in International Journal of Mobile Communications, Behaviour & Information Technology, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Telematics and Informatics, Journal of Global Information Management, and other international & domestic journals. He also has well-qualified experiences in related works at ISs area as a developer and system analyst. He has received the Best Papers awards at various international and domestic conferences.

Andrew P. Ciganek is an Associate Professor of MIS in the Department of Information Technology and Business Education at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, USA. He received his BS and Ph.D. in MIS from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA, in 2006 and 2000, respectively. His research interests are the managerial and strategic issues associated with the adoption and diffusion of innovations as well as the innovation decision-making process. His research has sought to identify the drivers and inhibitors in the decision-making process of adopting innovations and the impact of those drivers and inhibitors on the process’ duration. Much of his work also examines these innovations with respect to cultural influences, both on an organizational and international level.