Exploring citizen perceptions of barriers to e-government adoption in a developing country
Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy
ISSN: 1750-6166
Article publication date: 17 March 2014
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how citizens socialise and network in relation to using and adopting e-government. The paper suggests that governments need to consider social networks when introducing e-government initiatives. Using qualitative research, this study explores the reasons, fears, motivations and factors with respect to e-government relevant to two social groups of people, those who do and those who do not have regular access to the internet in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyses the results of focus groups representing different social groups of Jordanian citizens across the digital divide. The focus groups followed the nominal group method to explore questions relating to e-government adoption. The nominal group method provided preliminary categorisations of responses; however, further initial and axial coding of data were used to analyse recordings of focus group transcripts.
Findings
Contrary to previous research, this study highlights the importance of considering factors that most likely appear as organizational terms, such as resistance to change, when investigating the adoption of e-government within a social community. Cultural and social themes that emerged include resistance to change, wasta (favouritism), and word of mouth (WOM). Few qualitative studies have investigated the main factors relevant to the adoption of e-government by citizens in the Middle East.
Originality/value
To investigate the adoption of technological innovations including e-government, this paper encourages researchers and practitioners in information technologies (IT) to consider cultural and social factors that have been rarely discussed in IT research in general and e-government in particular. Examples of these factors are wasta (favouritism) and WOM.
Keywords
Citation
Alomari, M.K., Sandhu, K. and Woods, P. (2014), "Exploring citizen perceptions of barriers to e-government adoption in a developing country", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 131-150. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-05-2013-0013
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited