E-Government Portal Characteristics and Individual Appeal: An Examination of E-Government and Citizen Acceptance in the Context of Local Administration Portals

Abstract

E-government applications have become an important interface between citizens and public administration. However, quantitative research on e-government usage shows a tendency toward generic research models and in part lacks statistical rigor. Especially mediating conditions are often not taken into account appropriately. This contribution addresses this gap and provides a conceptually extended model of technology acceptance in the context of online city portals. The proposed model is tested with a large sample (n = 1,273) using structural equation modeling. Ease of use, usefulness, and privacy were found to be determinants of e-government portal acceptance, which in turn determines continuance intention of e-government portals. Furthermore, Internet competence and need for personal interaction were found to be direct determinants of continuance intention on the level of individual user appeal. The findings are discussed in terms of theory, and implications for public managers of online city portals are derived.

KEYWORDS:

• electronic government
• citizen acceptance
• local administration portals
• e-government portal acceptance
• continuance intention
• structural equation modeling

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of the two anonymous reviewers as well as the support of the editor Gillian Sullivan Mort.