E-service Quality Model For China Government Portals Based On Citizens’ Perspective

As the fast development of e-government, the transitions of service maturity phasespose continuous challenges to service providers in assessing the e-service quality ofweb-based services used in government. Most of the projects are still far below theexpection of citizens, although a well-structured plan on e-government was made in China.Improved service quality based on citizens’ need and expection can reduce the gapbetween design and reality and act as positive trigger for adoption of e-government. Thisstudy can help government portal developers get an insight into users’ needs to improvethe design and implemention of online services. An e-service quality model for the Chinagovernment portals was developed in this study.Factors influencing the e-service quality of government portals were identifiedthrough extensive review of research performed by academic scholoars and practitioners.Six constructs, usefulness of information, technology adequacy, transaction transparency,citizen centricity, security and privacy, responsiveness was supposed in the first. Aquestionnaire was designed based on the review and interviews with practitioners andusers of e-government applications. The questionnaire was then used to conduct survey offully operational portals. Responses were obtained and quantitative analyses wereperformed on the data. Five constructs, usefulness of information, technology adequacy,transaction transparency, citizen centricity, responsiveness was identified from theanalyses. Then a scale was developed and can be used in evaluating citizens’ perceivedquality of e-services, which can be used to assess the service quality of governmentportals.This study is original research, which is helpful for government to get betterunderstanding of citizens’perceived quality of e-services and adoption behavior within theframework of web-based environment of government services.