Development and Validation of a Scale for Measuring e-Government User Satisfaction

• Main Author: Obi, Marcel C.
• Format: Others
• Published: NSUWorks 2009
• Subjects: E-Government; Electronic Commerce; Electronic Government; Information System Research; Information Systems; Public Administration; Computer Sciences
• Online Access: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/264; http://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1263&context=gscis_etd

As the number of electronic services provided by governments to their citizens has increased, so has the need for understanding whether citizens are satisfied with these services. A literature review indicated that, in the United States alone, several government entities, including federal, state, and local governments, have invested large amounts of resources to develop or introduce electronic government (e-Government) to their citizens. However, very little attention has been paid to developing a standard scale for measuring the intended benefits or for justifying the invested resources. The focus of this study was the development and validation of a scale for measuring e-government user satisfaction (EGUS) to close this gap. Through review of extant literature, a 9-dimensional structure with 86 items was extracted to measure EGUS. Then, a preliminary content validity study was conducted with a 10-member panel of experts, who examined the items to ensure the psychometric properties of the scale were theoretically and empirically sound. This process resulted in elimination of 14 items. The main study was conducted based on the remaining 72 items. Data was collected from 225 e-government users via Web-based survey to assess their experience with online engagement. The items were further subjected to iterative test of dimensionality, construct validity, and internal consistency reliability. The end result was a 9-dimensional scale structure with 67 items. The results of the study indicated that all nine dimensions of EGUS (information content, ease of use, accessibility, timeliness, efficiency, security, privacy, interactivity, and format) were significant in influencing e-government user satisfaction. Thus, this research model has resulted in the basis for development of a new instrument to measure user satisfaction within e-government domain and the groundwork for expanding research on user satisfaction studies within the e-government paradigm. Within the body of knowledge, it has revealed insight into the importance of end user satisfaction in electronic government research. The instrument could be used in various fields of study. E-government practitioners and citizens could also use it for better understanding of the benefits of e-government services over traditional government services. Government personnel could use it to justify investments.