Value Co-creation in E-government: A Citizen-centric Approach

Abstract

Providing services that enable citizens to derive value is a key role of government departments around the world. One way in which they facilitate this value creation is by offering contemporary online services (also known as e-government). The Australian government has made it a key strategy to enhance digital government and encourage citizens to use these services. However, there are various factors that prevent citizens from gaining maximum value from these online services. Whilst research has emerged that investigates these factors, much of it has been from the organisational perspective and in the private sector. It is necessary to undertake citizen-centric research regarding the factors that impact a citizen’s ability to obtain maximum value from e-government systems and the potential impact. In line with the overall research objectives, this thesis addresses three main facets of citizen value creation in the e-government context, detailed in the three papers that comprise this thesis. The first paper investigates dimensions of negative value-in-use that emerge whilst using a government organisation artificial intelligence-driven virtual agent (also known as a chat-bot), extending current research by exploring value creation with non-human actors. Through analysing citizen feedback whilst using this system, this research identifies four dimensions of value-in-use, both validating previous facets identified in research examining value creation with human actors while also identifying new factors unique to the digital context. The research reported in paper one identified that citizens had preferences and expectations of e-government systems in terms of a tailored, personalised experience and that citizen active participation with the system was imperative. The second paper builds upon these findings and delves deeper into participation behaviour with the aim of understanding the antecedent effects of preference for personalisation and reliance on an intermediary (utilised commonly by citizens to manage interactions with government). Furthermore, using structural equation modelling, the effects of participation behaviour on positive outcomes for government are explored. In contrast to much of the existing literature, this paper takes a citizen-centric view and explores citizen preferences for personalisation, finding a positive relationship with participation behaviour and, in turn, confirming an association between this behaviour and emotional connection and partner quality. With little research examining the role of reliance on an intermediary for participation behaviour, the finding that participation behaviour is not significantly impacted by such reliance, suggesting equal participation opportunities for citizens who utilise an intermediary, offers an important contribution to knowledge and practice. Expanding on the focus of the first two papers on digital channels, and thus on the digital interactions that governments are encouraging, paper three reflects on instances when citizens use this preferred digital channel but then ‘switch’ to a traditional channel. Specifically, the paper contributes new knowledge by examining possible sources of value co-destruction that may lead to citizen channel switching behaviour and the effect such switching may have on perceptions of service quality. Using thematic analysis, five dimensions of value co-destruction emerged, two of which were consistent with existing research and three of which were novel manifestations specific to the digital self-service context. The results of this exploratory phase were used as the basis for a quantitative analysis that examined the difference in perceptions of service quality, depending on value co-destruction elements. This research contributes to the existing literature on both value co-creation and e-government by investigating the complex factors that affect citizens’ value co-creation when utilising egovernment services. Specifically, the thesis uncovers novel dimensions of value codestruction and negative value-in-use and their effects on citizens’ perceptions, specific to the e-government self-service environment. In particular, the desire and need for personalised services was a common theme that emerged, and this was explored in terms of preference and effects on other factors. This research contributes to both theory and practice, providing practitioners with tangible guidance on service system design and implementation to increase citizens’ ability to derive value from their systems.