Enhancing the Use of Government Mobile Applications:

The Perspective of Citizen-initiated Contacts Theory

Ching Seng Yap

1 a

, Rizal Ahmad

2 b

, Farhana Tahmida Newaz

3 c

and Cordelia Mason

4 d

Faculty of Business, Curtin University, Miri, Malaysia

School of Business and Management, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia

Graduate School of Business, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

WE4ASIA and Corporate Planning, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Keywords: Government Mobile Applications, Citizen-initiated Contacts Theory, Use Behaviour, Perceived Needs,

Awareness, Perceived Security, Socioeconomic Characteristics.

Abstract: The ubiquity of the Internet and mobile technologies has increased the adoption rate of e-government services

in Malaysia. The focus of Malaysian e-government initiatives is now shifting to mobile applications. Selected

visits done on portals of government mobile applications indicate a low level of use, which suggests the need

to identify factors that affect the use and non-use of government mobile applications. The citizen-initiated

contacts theory can be useful in explaining active usage behaviours and making citizens to initiate contacts

with the governments. Extensive studies have been done on citizens’ needs for government services and their

awareness of the availability of various methods of contacting the government such as through government

office visits, telephone calls, and government websites and portals. Unfortunately, similar studies on the use

of government mobile applications by citizens are relatively scarce. Studies on the needs for government

services and awareness of citizens of government mobile applications will enable us to understand factors

contributing to increasing the adoption rate of the mobile applications. This study is timely as it aims at

identifying the profile of users and non-users in terms of their socioeconomic characteristics and examining

potential influences of perceived needs, perceived security, and awareness on the use of government mobile

applications. Using quota sampling technique, primary data will be collected from 400 citizens (200 users and

200 non-users of government mobile applications) in Malaysia via a questionnaire survey. It is hoped that this

research will contribute to e-government and m-government literature, from the perspective of citizen-

initiated contacts theory, and provide useful implications for government policy in enhancing the use of

government mobile applications.

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The ubiquity of the Internet and mobile technologies

has increased the adoption rate of e-government

services in Malaysia. The focus of Malaysian e-

government initiatives is now shifting to smart phone

applications which have the potentials to enhance

public service delivery and increase the level of

citizen participation in government initiatives.

Selected visits done on portals of government mobile

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4181-6589

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5157-0571

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0049-486X

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0712-0809

applications indicate a low level of use, in terms of

total downloads, which suggests the need to examine

potential factors that affect the rate of using of

government mobile applications. The citizen-initiated

contacts theory can be useful in explaining active

usage behaviours, such as downloading and installing

mobile applications, searching for information, and

performing online transactions from making citizens’

initiated contacts with their governments. Extensive

studies have been done on citizens’ need for

government services and their awareness of the

availability of various methods of contacting the

government such as through government office visits,

258

Yap, C., Ahmad, R., Newaz, F. and Mason, C.

Enhancing the Use of Government Mobile Applications: The Perspective of Citizen-initiated Contacts Theory.

DOI: 10.5220/0008347602580263

In Proceedings of the 11th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management (IC3K 2019), pages 258-263

ISBN: 978-989-758-382-7

telephone calls, and government websites and portals.

Unfortunately, similar studies on the use of

government mobile applications by citizens are

relatively scarce. Studies on the needs for government

services and awareness of citizens of mobile

applications will enable us to understand factors

contributing to increasing the adoption rate of

government mobile applications. On the other hand,

various negative reviews posted by mobile

applications users on the relevant web-sites also

indicate an urgent need to examine the users'

expectations of the government mobile applications

in terms of the functionality, quality, and

performance.

1.2 Research Objectives

Therefore, this study aims to:

 identify the characteristics of users and non-users

of government mobile applications,

 examine the users' expectations of the government

mobile applications,

 determine the factors contributing to the use and

non-use of government mobile applications, and

 examine the moderating effect of socioeconomic

characteristics of citizens on the relationship

between the antecedents and the use of

government mobile applications.

1.3 Significance of the Study

From the theoretical perspective, the findings of this

research have the potentials to provide theoretical

contributions to e-government literature from the

perspective of Citizen-initiated Contacts Theory.

Specifically, the research identifies and examines the

level of citizen engagement with the government

resulting from their perceived need, perceived

security, and level of awareness of government

mobile applications.

From the practical and managerial perspective -

mobile applications providers and government

organizations, may benefit from the findings of this

research to reinforce the functionality, quality,

security features and performance of mobile

applications to meet users’ expectation. The

information is crucial in the development of new or

upgrade of the existing government mobile

applications to enhance the use of government mobile

applications among the citizens in Malaysia.

This paper is structured as follows: next section

defines some basic terminologies and reviews the past

empirical studies concerning adoption of e-

government and m-government services, specifically

in Malaysia. Research method is discussed next in

terms of sample and sampling procedures, data

collection methods, survey instrument, and data

analysis techniques. Last section provides concluding

remarks by highlighting the potential implications of

this research for theory and practice.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Electronic Government in Malaysia

Electronic government (e-government) can be

defined as the use of the Internet and ICT to

electronically empower governments to provide

information and services to a diverse range of

stakeholders (Chugh & Grandhi, 2013). Electronic

devices and applications can be in the form of kiosks,

personal computers, websites/portals, and mobile

applications. In 1997, the government of Malaysia

launched the Multimedia Super Corridor with seven

flagship projects: Generic Office Environment

(GOE), Electronic Procurement (EP), Human

Resource Management Information System

(HRMIS), Project Monitoring System (PMS),

Electronic Services Delivery (EServices), Electronic

Labor Exchange (ELX), and E-Syariah. The first e-

government initiative was launched on 24 February

2004 to enhance the delivery of public services

through the Internet and World Wide Web

technology. According to the Economic Intelligence

Unit – an organisation based in the USA, Malaysia

was, in 2011, ranked 29th out of 62 countries, in terms

of the Government E-Payment Adoption Rate

(GEAR), with an overall performance score of

69.3%. The United Nations E-Government Survey

2014 Report indicates that Malaysia occupied

position 52 out of 193 in the E-Government

Development Index, and 59 in the E-Participation

Index, and that was the lowest ranking Malaysia was

in, since the Index was first introduced in 2003. The

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (previously

knowns as Multimedia Development Corporation,

MDEC) has been conducting annual assessment of e-

government portals and websites since 2005. The

assessment criteria MDEC used include content,

usability, security, participation and services. In

2013, it published an assessment report, which

acknowledged that the quality of Malaysian e-

government portals and websites have improved, that

is with over 90% of portals and websites achieved a

3-Star or better rating.

While the performance of e-government

initiatives was mostly published by government

Enhancing the Use of Government Mobile Applications: The Perspective of Citizen-initiated Contacts Theory

259

agency, the scholarly literature about e-government

services, on the other hand, is mostly about the factor

affecting its adoption among citizens (Ooh et al.,

2009; Mohd Suki & Ramayah, 2010). Ooh at al.

(2009) used an integrated model consisting of

technology acceptance model (TAM) and diffusion of

innovation (DOI) theory, and found that trust,

perceived usefulness, relative advantage and

perceived image are positively related to intention to

use e-government services. On the contrary,

perceived complexity has an adverse effect.

Perceived strength of online privacy and non-

repudiation are found to be the predictors of citizen’s

trust to use e-government services. Mohd Suki and

Ramayah (2010) who also used the TAM, and theory

of planned behaviour (TPB) tested the acceptance of

e-government services among the citizen. The study

found similar results to Ooh at al.’s (2009), in which

all antecedents of TAM were found to be significant

predictors of attitude toward e-government services.

Additionally, the results show that both social norms

and attitude are positively related to intention to use

e-government services. One of the few studies on m-

government in Malaysia was conducted by Tunibat,

Mat Zin, and Shahri (2011), who found that even

though the awareness is high, the use of m-

government services is still low in Malaysia.

2.2 Mobile Government in Malaysia

Mobile government (m-government) can be defined

as be defined as “a strategy and its implementation

involving the utilization of all kinds of wireless and

mobile technology, services, applications and devices

for improving benefits to the parties involved in e-

government including citizens, businesses and all

government units” (Kushchu & Kuscu, 2013, p. 2).

Before the ubiquitous use of smart phones, the

Malaysian government has offered five types of m-

government services to its citizens, including

mySMS, myUSSD, myMMs, myAPP and myPay.

MySMS connects the public to various government

agencies through a unique code, 15888. These

services become less relevant with the introduction of

smartphone in 2007.

Currently, the Gallery of Malaysian Government

Mobile Applications (GAMMA, 2019) website listed

198 mobile applications under 16 categories on three

mobile platforms (i.e., Android, iOS, and Windows)

that have been developed for use of citizens and

businesses. The categories include medical, climate,

shopping, community, local travel, transportation,

news and media, among others.

One of the few empirical research on m-

government services was conducted by Azeez and

Lakulu (2018). Based on the relevant literature, they

developed an evaluation framework of m-

government services success from the perspective of

service quality, system quality, information quality,

trust, usefulness, and satisfaction. However, the

model was only tested by 15 academics who act as the

experts in m-government services. Further data

validation from a larger pool of sample is needed to

confirm the model. On the other hand, Abu Bakar and

Abdul Rahman (2016) conducted a descriptive study

to identify the use of m-government among citizens.

They found that the most frequent use of m-

government is related to lodging complaints,

retrieving educational information, and checking

status of various applications. Nevertheless, they did

not develop a conceptual framework to examine the

adoption decision of m-government services.

2.3 Underpinning Theory

Various theoretical and conceptual frameworks have

been developed and empirically tested to explain

individuals’ acceptance behaviour of new technology

and information systems. For instance, diffusion of

innovations theory (Rogers, 2010), theory of planned

behaviour (Azjen, 1980), technology acceptance

model (Davis, 1989, Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw,

1989), technology acceptance model 2 (Venkatesh &

Davis, 2000), technology acceptance model 3

(Venkatesh & Bala, 2008), UTAUT (Venkatesh

2003). Nevertheless, the citizen-initiated contacts

theory developed by Jones et al. (1977) could offer an

alternative theoretical lens to investigate the

acceptance of m-government by citizens.

Based on the traditional contacts with

government, Jones et al. (1977) argue that the needs

for government services determine the level of

contact a citizen with the government. Citizens with

higher needs for government services tend to have

greater contact with the government in order to seek

the services. On the other hand, Thomas (1982)

explains that citizens’ contact with government is

dependent on their socioeconomic status. The higher

the socioeconomic status a citizen possesses, the

greater contacts and participation in government

development and activities. After 20 years, Thomas

and Streib (2003) found web interaction with

government a new way for citizen-initiated contacts,

especially for obtaining public information.

Sharp (1982) presents a parabolic model of

citizen-initiated contacts with the government based

on needs and awareness dimensions. In this theory,

KMIS 2019 - 11th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Systems

260

citizens with a different level of socioeconomic status

have varying needs for government services and level

of awareness of government services, and thus initiate

different degree of contacts with government. A

citizen with a lower level of socioeconomic status

may have greater needs for government services but

lack of awareness. On the other hand, a citizen with a

higher level of socioeconomic status may have lesser

needs for government services even though with the

higher level of awareness of government services. For

a citizen to initiate the highest level of contacts with

government, needs for services and awareness are at

the highest point of the parabolic curve. This theory

has been applied by Reddick and Anthopoulos (2014)

and Reddick and Zheng (2017) in the context of m-

government.

Besides, this study includes an additional

antecedent – perceived security, to the use of

government mobile applications. Perceived security

is referred to as the degree to which the citizen

believes that conducting a transaction on mobile

government application is safe in a manner consistent

with the citizen’s confident expectation (Hartono et

al., 2014). Perceived security has been found to be an

important predictor to the adoption of new technology

such as e-business, e-banking, and e-government in

the literature (Liao & Cheung, 2002; Munyoka &

Maharaj, 2019; Shalhoub, 2006).

2.3 Research Hypotheses

H1: Perceived need for government services relates

positively to the use of government mobile

applications.

H2: Awareness of government mobile applications

relates positively to the use of government

mobile applications.

H3: Perceived security of government mobile

applications relates positively to the use of

government mobile applications.

H4: The socioeconomic characteristics of citizens

moderate the relationship between the three

antecedents and the use of government mobile

applications.

The proposed conceptual framework is presented

in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Proposed Conceptual Model.

3 METHOD

3.1 Sample and Sampling Procedures

Data will be collected from primary sources based on

the research objectives set forth in the introduction

section. Specifically, the research will involve data

collection using a questionnaire survey to identify the

users and non-users profiles of government mobile

applications and their perception of two government

mobile applications selected from GAMMA, one

receiving highest rating and most download, and

another one receiving lowest rating and least

download. The applications must also have been

introduced for a minimum of 6 months from the date

of data collection.

The sample of this study will be the individual

users and non-users of government mobile

applications in Malaysia who are 18 years old and

above. Using the quota sampling procedures, 40 users

and 40 non-users from each of the five major

geographical regions in Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur

(Central Peninsular), Penang (Northern Peninsular),

Johor Bahru (Southern Peninsular), Kuching

(Sarawak), and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) will be

selected to participate in the questionnaire survey.

The final sample consists of 200 users and 200 non-

users of government mobile applications in Malaysia.

3.2 Research Instrument

The research instrument is adopted from the existing

literature. Each variables and measurement are

presented as follows:

Perceived Needs for government services is adapted

from Ooh et al. (2009) and measured by 4 items -

Enhancing the Use of Government Mobile Applications: The Perspective of Citizen-initiated Contacts Theory

261

needs for information, needs for transactions, needs

for participation, and needs for collaboration, along a

5-point scale of 1 – ‘to a small extent’ to 5 – ‘to a

large extent’.

Awareness of government mobile applications is

measured by the level of awareness of the types of

government services available on mobile

applications, along a 5-point scale of 1 – ‘very low’

to 5 – ‘very high’.

Perceived Security is measured by 4 items -

authorized access, information confidentiality,

restriction on high value transactions, and strong

commitment to security measures. These four items

are adopted from Liao and Cheung (2002) and

measured along a 5-point scale of 1 – ‘not important

at all’ to 5 – ‘very important’.

Use of Government Mobile Applications is

measured by 4 items on frequency of using

government mobile applications for contacting

government departments/agencies, searching for

information, performing online transactions, and

participating in government initiatives over the last

three months based on the two selected government

mobile applications.

Socioeconomic Characteristics are measured by 3

items - occupation, income level and highest

educational level. All three items are measured by

categorical data.

3.3 Data Analysis Techniques

Data collected will be analysed using partial least

squares path modelling (PLS-PM) technique in R

platform (Sanchez, 2013). PLS-PM is a multivariate

statistical technique that requires less stringent

assumptions as compared with co-variance based

structural equation modelling. PLS-PM involves two

stages of analysis – evaluation of measurement model

and structural model. The measurement model

evaluates the reliability and validity of items and

constructs while the structural model evaluates effect

size, direction, and significance of the hypothesised

relationships.

4 CONCLUDING REMARKS

The results of this research, including the identified

the level of government mobile applications use

among citizens, the profile of users and non-users of

mobile applications, and factors contributing to their

use/non-use are expected to provide important

implications for public policy makers. Public policy

makers such as those in the Malaysian Administrative

Modernization and Management Planning Unit

(MAMPU) could use the relevant information to

develop appropriate measures for increasing the rate

of mobile applications, by enhancing the existing

functionality and quality of mobile applications, and

to identify areas for further improvement. For

practice, mobile applications developers may benefit

from the research findings by reaching out to the

general public for socio-economic development and

integration. This research may also provide a

reference for similar studies for other e-government

services in Malaysia, and other countries.

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