Unravelling (E-)Government Channel Selection: A Quantitative Analysis of Individual Customer Preferences in Germany and Australia

Transcription

1 th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences Unravelling (E-)Government Channel Selection: A Quantitative Analysis of Individual Customer Preferences in Germany and Australia Ralf Plattfaut* ralf.plattfaut@ercis.unimuenster.de Daniel Beverungen* daniel.beverungen@ercis.unimuenster.de Thomas Kohlborn + t.kohlborn@qut.edu.au Bjoern Niehaves* bjoern.niehaves@ercis.unimuenster.de Jörg Becker* becker@ercis.uni-muenster.de Sara Hofmann* sara.hofmann@ercis.unimuenster.de Michael Räckers* michael.raeckers@ercis.unimuenster.de * University of Muenster European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) + Queensland University of Technology Abstract The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of individual differences on service channel selection for e-government services. In a comparative survey of citizens in Germany and Australia (n=1205), we investigate the impact of age, gender, and mobility issues on the selection of personal or mobile communication as channels for service consumption. The results suggest that Australians are more likely to want to use new technology-oriented channels as internet or mobile applications while Germans tend to use classical channels as telephone or in person. Moreover, differences with respect to age, gender, and mobility exist. Implications for practice and issues for future research are discussed. 1. Introduction Recent advances in information technology have fostered the emergence and proliferation of a network society that is permeated with almost ubiquitously available information technology [1]. Mobile phones and Tablet PCs are common examples for mobile devices that add to the availability of communication channels through which services can be designed, configured, or consumed. Hence, governments are, just like organizations in the private sector, faced with the need to manage customer interactions through various channels. In turn, customers are faced with channel multiplicity [2], resulting in a need to select from multiple sources of information. A channel is a customer contact point or a medium through which the firm and the customer interact, whereas multichannel customer management can be defined as the design, deployment, coordination, and evaluation of channels to enhance customer value through effective customer acquisition, retention, and development [3, p. 96]. In the private sector, the key intention seems to be to develop a sound marketing strategy for generating more value from the interaction for both firm and customer that stands in the tradition of research focused on unidirectional sales channels. While much of multichannel research is focused on selling goods and services on different channels for increasing both customer and shareholder value [4], channel management in the public sector is based on a different rationale. The primary intention of providing (e-)government services on different channels is not necessarily increased efficiency, but rather improved accessibility and convenience for citizens. However, we argue that the basic challenges related to multichannel customer management hold true for the public sector as well: data integration, understanding customer behavior, channel evaluation, appropriate resource allocation, and coordination of channel strategies [3]. The paper at hand focuses on contributing to our understanding of the factors that influence customers channel selection for public services provided by local governments. An emphasis is put on investigating the /12 $ IEEE DOI /HICSS

2 impact that individual differences such as gender, age, mobility, and region have on the selection of channels for consuming governmental services. Accordingly, the research question investigated in the paper is: Which individual factors influence the service channel selection of e-government services? We answer this question by conducting an international study that is based on surveying German as well as Australian citizens. In this survey, we record both the intention to use specific channels for contacting the government as well as the participants demographic data including age, gender, degree of mobility, and nationality. This research design enables us to generate insights into the individual differences influencing the channel selection process for public services, since the countries differ, amongst others, in terms of e-government readiness [5]. Although Germany and Australia can be seen as somehow similar in terms of both being countries of the Western, developed world, they exhibit great differences when it comes to the citizens attitude towards their government. Whereas Australian citizens in general are satisfied with the work of their public administrations, Germans hold a rather negative perception about their government to the point of distrusting them [5]. However, trust in the government is a crucial antecedent for the intention to use electronic government services [6]. Thus, we argue that differences in channel selection between citizens of both countries exist. Another factor here is that both societies differ on a economic level, since Australia (just like the UK or the US) can be viewed as following a service economy model, whereas German might be perceived rather as following an industrial production model [1] which might influence the willingness or ability of customers to interact with administrations on different communication channels, respectively. The paper proceeds as follows. In Section 2, previous research on the influence of sociodemographical features on the adoption of e- government services is reflected. Based on these insights from the literature, hypotheses with regard to the factors that can be assumed to influence service channel selection are derived in Section 3. Data collection and analysis in our international research setting are reported in Section 4, while the results themselves are presented in Section 5. The discussion in Section 6 suggests that most of our hypotheses are supported by the data. Moreover, the paper features a conclusion and outlook for inspiring future research (Section 7). 2. Research Background The recent focus on increasing cost efficiency and customer satisfaction is no longer limited to organizations in the private domain, but also includes governments in the public domain, because service delivery through the online channel can be up to 20 times less expensive than the traditional over-thecounter service delivery channel [7]. However, governments need to focus on a consistent service delivery across all channels to increase citizens satisfaction [8]. In order to define appropriate strategies for consistent cross-channel service delivery, governments first need to understand the current usage behavior of their citizens. In particular, it is of interest to what extent demographics impact the selection of channels, in order to develop and implement strategies for dealing with the needs of different audiences. The impact of demographics is discussed controversially in e-government adoption research in particular as well as in IT adoption in general. Although many studies acknowledge the role of demographic characteristics, only few studies solely focus on such factors as age or gender. Most widely used acceptance theories like the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), for instance, concentrate on the factors perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as main predictor for the intention to use a certain technology [9], [10]. UTAUT integrates age and gender as variables moderating the influence on intention to use. Studies on the digital divide ascribe such demographic characteristics a very high influence on people s internet usage (cf. e.g. [11], [12]). Also in the domain of e-government acceptance, several studies acknowledge the role of socio-demographic variables like age, gender, income, and education [13]. Reddick et al. found a strong relation between the digital divide and the channel choice for government services differentiating between traditional and electronic contact channels. [14] Besides the influence of socio-demographic features, this study also analyzes the role of two cultures, which are considered to be among the leaders in recent benchmarks of e-government readiness, namely Australia and Germany. In a recent benchmarking study by Accenture, Australia was perceived to be further advanced in regard to e-government than was Germany. In regard to channel utilization, 41% of respondents from Australia have reported to having used technology channels (e.g. internet or mobile) for contacting government in the last 12 months, although 73% of

3 Australians reported a preference for traditional channels; 20% reported a preference for technology channels. In Germany, 92% of the respondents have used the traditional channel in the last year, whereas 28% have used technology channels. 72% of the respondents still prefer the traditional channel, whereas 18% prefer the technology channels [15]. Also the latest e-government benchmarking report from the United Nations ranked Australia in front of Germany for the e-government developing index as well as the e- participation index [5]. A similar picture can be drawn from the results of the Brookings Institute e- government benchmarking report [16]. Besides, the benchmarking in terms of e-government developing indices, studies have shown that German and Australian citizens differ in their level of trust towards their governments [5]. Whereas Australians have a positive attitude towards their public administration, Germans rather distrust their government. Most studies dealing with the contact channel between governments and citizens distinguish only between the technology or e- channel and the traditional one. As such, we set out to update these studies with newer data and differentiate between different types of channels: in person at the government s site, in person at another place, e.g. a retirement home or a shopping center, telephone, internet, or mobile. Furthermore, we seek to add individual factors (such as age, gender, and mobility) in order to increase an understanding of the digital divide phenomenon in e-government. 3. Hypotheses In order to analyze the factors that determine the individual selection of a specific contact channel, we derived hypotheses for each channel including the factors age, gender, mobility and location. Mobility refers to whether an individual is restricted in his or her ability to move and location determines whether he or she lives in Australia or Germany. The preferred channels participants could choose from are contact via internet, via mobile devices, via telephone, in person on-site, as well as in person off-site. In our research model, we argue that the demand of each channel c is influenced by the four factors: Demand = β +β Age + β Gen + β Mob + β Loc 3.1. Internet-Based Contact with the Government Statistics shows that internet usage in general decreases with increasing age with the age group between 16 and 24 years being the most frequent users. Contacting the government on the internet shows similar patterns. Whereas the 25 to 44 year old get in touch with the government via the World Wide Web most frequently with 66%, the internet usage for contacting government continuously decreases with advancing age [17]. Therefore, we assume a negative impact of age on the channel internet. Considering the difference between internet contacts with the government of female and male users, it shows that the latter use the internet more often with 34% compared to 30% of female users contacting the government electronically [17]. Thus, men are more likely to choose this channel than women. For individuals with restricted mobility, using internet-based services offers the advantage of not having to move to an external site. Therefore, it can be assumed that people with mobility issues are more likely to use the internet as a preferred channel. Furthermore, the cultural factors play a role when it comes to the channel selection. As the e- government readiness of Australia is higher than in Germany [5], it can be assumed that the participants in Australia are more likely to use internet-based government services than the participants in Germany (Table 1). Table 1. Hypotheses for channel internet 1a. <0 1b. >0 1c. >0 1d. >0 Elderly citizens are less likely to want to use internet-based government services than younger ones. Female citizens are less likely to want to use internet-based government services than male citizens. People with mobility issues are more likely to use remote channels like the internet. Australians are more likely to use internet-based government services than Germans Contact with Governments via Mobile Devices Mobile devices are one mean to get in contact with the government, e.g. via special apps or SMS. The statistics for the use of mobile devices show results similar to the use of the internet. Whereas 31% of the 16 to 24 year old use mobile and smart phones for going online wirelessly, the usage rate decreases with advancing age down to 5% of the 65+ year old [17]

4 Hence, we hypothesize that elder people are less likely to use mobile devices for interacting with the government, i.e. mobile government. Women, too, use mobile and smart phones much more seldom for wireless internet access (12%) than their male counterparts (23%) [17]. Here again, we assume that men are more likely to use mobile devices for contacting government than women. The OECD and the International Telecommunication Union ascribe mobile devices great advantages for people with mobility issues as Mobile communications can be a substitute for transportation [18]. Thus, people with restricted mobility are probably more likely to use mobile government. Regarding the location, we hypothesize that Australians are more likely to use mobile services than Germans as apart from their higher e-government readiness the number of mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants is higher than in Germany [18]. See Table 2 for an overview over these hypotheses. Table 2. Hypotheses for channel mobile 2a. <0 2b. >0 2c. >0 2d. >0 Elderly citizens are less likely to want to use mobile government channels than younger ones. Men are more likely than women to use mobile government channels. People with mobility issues are more likely to use mobile channels. Australians are more likely to use mobile government channels than Germans Contact with Governments via Telephone Due to their lower affinity with the internet and new technologies, we assume that elderly citizens are more likely to contact the government via telephone. Furthermore, there is no indicator that women or men would differ in their behavior regarding telephone contacts with the government. For people with restricted mobility, the same argument applies as for the mobile devices. Therefore, a positive correlation between people with mobility issues and contacting the government via telephone can be assumed. As there is no indicator concerning a different use of the telephone, we hypothesize that there is no difference between Australians and Germans when it comes to contacting government via the telephone as well (Table 3). Table 3. Hypotheses for channel telephone 3a. >0 3b. =0 3c. >0 3d. =0 Elderly citizens are more likely to want to use government services via telephone. There is no gender-related difference regarding the use of telephone-based government services. People with mobility issues are more likely to use the telephone as a remote channel to government services. There is no difference between Australia and Germany regarding the use of telephone-based government services Contact with Governments in Person On- Site As indicated above (Section 3.1), the willingness to use electronic or mobile government decreases with advancing age. Therefore, we assume that older people are more likely to use the traditional way of contacting the government, i.e. in person at the government s office. However, literature gives no evidence that there is a difference between genders regarding the willingness to contact the government personally. Hence, we hypothesize that no gender-related difference exists. As mobile or electronic services offer advantages for people with restricted mobility and as their way to the government s office is related to a certain effort, it can be assumed that people with mobility issues are less willing to interact with the government on-site. Finally, because of the higher e- government readiness of Australia, Australians are expected to be less likely to contact the government in person on-site (Table 4). Table 4. Hypotheses for channel in person on-site 4a. >0 4b. =0 4c. <0 4d. <0 Elderly citizens are more likely to want to use governmental services in person at the site of the administration than younger ones. There is no gender-related difference. People with mobility issues are less likely to go to a government agency in person on-site. Australians are less likely to want to consume governmental services in person on-site

5 3.5. Contact with Governments in Person Off- Site As elderly citizens are less familiar with mobile and electronic devices and as longer ways to government s offices are sometimes related with greater efforts, we hypothesize that older people are more likely to be willing to use government services nearby. Again, as we did not find any gender-related indicators, it can be assumed that there is no difference between female and male using government services off-site. As for individuals with restricted mobility, shorter ways to government services nearby their home are more convenient, we suppose that they are more likely to contact government in person off-site. As Australians are more likely to use electronic and mobile government services (see above, Sections 3.1 and 3.2), it can be hypothesized that they are less likely to adopt government services in person off-site (Table 5). Table 5. Hypotheses for channel other location 5a. >0 5b. =0 5c. >0 5d. <0 4. Research Methodology 4.1. Data Collection Elderly citizens are more likely to want to use government services in locations nearer to their home. There is no gender-related difference. People with mobility issues are more likely to want to use e- government services in locations nearer to their home. Australians are less likely to want to consume governmental services in person off-site in other locations than Germans. Our data collection was supported by regional authorities. For the German data set, we contacted the administration of one of the German federal states. As the administration emphasized the importance of senior citizens for their decision making, we selected two random samples a) 3,000 citizens aged 50 and above and b) 3,000 citizens of all ages. Thus, we have a slight bias towards elderly citizens. However, as age is one of the independent variables of this study, it is controlled for and does not distort our results. Each citizen chosen received a letter signed by a high-ranking government official and a stamped return envelope to lever the response rate. We received 814 responses from German citizens (response rate of 13.6%). For the Australian data set we contacted a market research company, which manages a panel that opted in to receive surveys and other research material in certain intervals in return for a previously agreed upon form of reimbursement. The questions asked in regard to this study of e-government service delivery channel selection were embedded in a larger survey that we conducted in collaboration with an Australian state government. As recruitment guidelines for the market research company, we required an even spread of at least 350 participants across age groups and gender, who live in this state. The market research company then sent out an invitation to the study, which included a link to the website that hosted the survey. We received 391 responses from Australian citizens. The selected states serve as representatives of the corresponding country. Although this could include certain bias it allowed for easier data collection Data Analysis We started with cleansing the data by deleting entries with more than two missing values. Next, we aggregated both data sets. As age was measured using different ranges (e.g vs ), we transformed age to a ratio scale. Moreover, we had to aggregate some answers in the Australian data set to match the German equivalents, e.g. SMS and mobile apps were aggregated to mobile. The collected variables are measured as single item variables. These variables are often binary coded. Thus, the selection of an appropriate method is difficult. Thus, we opted for regression analyses (ordinary least squares). Ordinary least squares comes with several drawbacks, especially when using categorical/binary variables. However, other research methods are either not usable at all or come with even more drawbacks. We employed these regression analyses according to the research model presented above using IBM SPSS Statistics 20. Missing values were treated using mean replacement [19] Sample Demographics The sample demographics (see Table 6) show the expected bias towards elderly citizens in the German subsample. However, all other German demographics look as expected. The proportion of persons with mobility issues in Germany is higher than in Australia,

6 which might be related to age. The Australian subsample contains more male than female respondents. This is due to random sampling and is still within the limits of the stated agreement. However, the results should not be biased in this respect. Table 6. Sample Demographics codes in [brackets] IV Mean SD DV Code N % Age [measured in years] Internet No [0] % Yes [1] % IV Code N % Mobile No [0] % Gender Female [0] % Yes [1] % Male [1] % Telephone No [0] % Mobility No [0] % Yes [1] % Issues Yes [1] % In person No [0] % Location Germany [0] % Yes [1] % Australia [1] % Other location No [0] % Yes [1] % 5. Results Following the described data analysis procedure, we conducted one regression analysis of our research model for each of the five service channels. The p- values are calculated based on the T-values and the presented hypotheses and thus correspond to either one- or two-sided T-tests. Table 7. Results of the regression analyses Channel 1: Internet Channel 2: Mobile Channel 3: Telephone Channel 4: In person Channel 5: Other location Age β t *** *** ** *** ** Gender β ² ² ² t ** *** Mobility β t n.s * ** Location β ² t *** *** *** *** R² R² adjusted N * Significant at the 10% level, ** Significant at the 5% level, *** Significant at the 1% level ² Two-sided test (see corresponding hypothesis) With regards to the channel internet only mobility has not the hypothesized influence on the choice of channel. Age and mobility both have a negative relationship. In contrast, Australians are more likely to select the Internet as the channel of choice. Thus, only hypothesis 1c has to be discarded (see Table 7). With regards to the channel mobile we can observe influences as hypothesized for Age, Gender, and Mobility, but not for Location. There is no difference between the two countries studied or between male and female respondents: hypothesis 2d is not supported by our study (see Table 7). For the channel telephone we can observe that Age and Gender have the hypothesized influence. In contrast, the influence of mobility is not statistically significant while there is a highly significant negative influence of the location: Australians are less likely to consume governmental services over the telephone. Hypotheses 3c and 3d have to be discarded (see Table 7)

7 The hypotheses for the channel on-site in person are partially supported by the data (Age, Location and Gender). The hypothesized impact of the mobility of the respondent is not statistically significant (hypothesis 4c, see Table 7). The respondents want to consume governmental services off-site in other locations as hypothesized, i.e. the choice of the channel is higher for older, immobile, or German respondents. Hence, all hypotheses are supported by our analysis (see Table 7). 6. Discussion 6.1. Contribution to Knowledge Base In our study, we used the collected data to conform our presented hypotheses. Firstly, for age, the results are in line with all hypotheses. Older people are more likely to want to contact their governmental administration via classical service channels: They want to get in contact in person both at the administration and at other places in their environment. Moreover, they prefer to get in contact via telephone. In contrast, newer channels as internet or mobile phones are preferred by younger citizens. Secondly, there are differences with regards to gender. These differences are in line with our hypotheses. We argued that there are no gender differences with regards to the classical channels onsite, off-site, and telephone. These hypotheses could be shown to be correct. Moreover, we also hypothesized that there is a difference in choosing the channel mobile (e.g. mobile apps or SMS). Here, our analysis confirmed that male respondents are more likely to use this channel than females. For the channel internet, we hypothesized this difference due to previous results from digital divide research. The analysis supported the hypothesis in this case. Apparently, women are not as likely to want to use newer channels as men in the field of (e-)government services. Thirdly, mobility issues influence the choice of service channels, too. However, this influence is not as consistent as hypothesized. We argued that respondents with limited mobility would rely on remote channels as internet, telephone or mobile and prefer to go to the agency off-site, e.g. at shopping centers. However, the hypotheses with regards to internet and telephone are not supported by our analysis. The same holds true for the channel on-site in person. Here, mobility issues have no significant influence. Hence, the existence of mobility issues is only positively related to the choice of the channels off-site and mobile. To explain these surprising results future research is needed. There is the possibility that some of the influence of mobility issues is already explained by age as both variables might correlate to a certain extent. Moreover, mobility issues might correlate with other medical conditions which have an influence on channel selection, too. Lastly, the most important influencing factor over all five channels is the location. Apparently, there are great differences between Australians and Germans. These differences were only partly hypothesized. We could show that Australians are less likely to contact their government in person but use the internet instead. We argue that this is due to the differences in e-government readiness. Moreover, Australians tend to rely less on the telephone as Germans. This does disproof our hypothesis that there is no statistical effect for this channel. One reason for this might be the dominance of modern channels like the internet over other channels. However, the influence of the other modern channel (mobile) is not statistically significant though positive. As such, our study contributes to the knowledge base. First, we were able to update the results of previous studies with regard to differences between Australia and Germany. The classical channels covering personal or phone contact are more favored by Germans, the modern channels by Australians. With our study, we thus contribute to the emerging field of country-comparative studies that go beyond benchmarking. Second, we include digital divide variables such as age, gender, and mobility to increase our understanding of the e-government channel selection phenomenon Contribution to Practice Our study has several contributions to practice. Firstly, we can argue with respect to e-government readiness. This leads to the result that e-government adoption can be fostered by supplier side, i.e. the public administrations. We would recommend the German public administrations to learn from their Australian colleagues and to increase their efforts in offering online services. We would expect that by time these offers will diffuse into the public and will increase the usage rates of German e-government services. However, to elaborate this issue in more detail, further research on the specific e-government services offered in Australia will be necessary to provide German public administrations with more concrete guidelines, recommendations and success factors from Australia, added by an evaluation on how to adopt

8 Secondly, we can argue with a slightly positive influence of mobile broadband subscription on the willingness to use mobile services in Australia. This also leads to a recommendation for Germany, i.e. the extension of broadband availability on Germany to foster mobile broadband subscription. We argue as well that this might not have a direct short-term effect on e-government service adoption. But, due to the increasing possibility to offer respective services by Public Administrations and also private organizations, these investments by time will increase the usage rates of German e-government services. Including and fostering private organizations to offer their services via mobile channel will also minimize the threshold for participants to also use e- government services via this channel. Thirdly, for Australia, the results suggest that participants are less likely to use the telephone channel as the vehicle of choice to contact government. Although the reasons behind this situation are beyond the scope of this study, government initiated an overhaul of the online and telephone channel as well as an alignment between the two channels [20]. The main idea is to offer all service in one place, made available over the phone or online. Consequently, a single phone number is to be introduced that citizens can use for all their enquiries as well as a comprehensive, integrated one-stop portal that features all government services. This single phone number was introduced in Germany in This study supports the current move towards citizen-centricity by restructuring the telephone channel in order to be more user-friendly for citizens. It can be expected that similar surveys in the future will find a usage increase of not only the online channel, but also the telephone channel, based on the current improvement efforts that are underway Limitations The results of our study are limited to a certain extent. Firstly, we used one state as a representative of each of the two countries. Differences might exist between the states that would change some of the results. Secondly, in the Australian sub-dataset there is a slight bias towards male respondents. This bias might influence the location-based results. Third, some of our variables are correlated. These correlations are not taken into account in this analysis. Moreover, the influence of the variables might not be linear which is not taken into account, too. Fourth, the low R²-values indicate that important antecedents are missing so far. These other variables have to be identified and included in future research. Fifth, channels might also differ with regards to the services offered. This might influence channel usage intention, too. 7. Concluding Remarks In this study we analyzed e-government channel selection of 1205 respondents from Germany and Australia. We selected the channels internet, mobile, telephone, in person on-site, and in-person off-site and thus extended prior research in this area. Moreover, we took into account demographic variables as age, gender, or mobility issues. Our results suggest that regarding age, elderly people are less likely to want to use the internet or mobile channels and prefer the classical channels telephone, in person on-site and in-person off-site. While for classical channels there is no gender related difference, the channels internet and mobile are more likely used by men. Mobility issues do not have that influence on the channel selection we expected. Finally, the differences between Germans and Australians are quite clear. Australians prefer the internet or mobile solutions, but dislike telephone or in-person on-site or in-person off-side contacts in contrast to Germans. To come to a head, especially elderly female Germans tend to use classical channels while younger, male Australians favor newer (e-)channels. These results are not only explainable based on differences in e-government readiness of the two countries. It is also explainable based on cultural differences. The results support our preliminary assumption derived from literature that explicit differences in citizens attitude towards their government lead to differences in the usage and adoption of e-channels, or, more general, e- government offers. A to a certain extend general mistrust into governments by German citizens avoids greater success of e-government initiatives. Future research could focus on the health related variables of people. Our study could show that the conditions with regards to mobility matter for governmental service channel selection. However, other medical conditions might be even more important. Moreover, future research could also focus on the limitations of our study by taking into account the whole country and not selected states. Additionally, other countries could be studied, too. In this context it might be interesting to add countryspecific background information, e.g. the dimensions of national culture as identified by Hofstede [21]. Culture might be a major antecedent of differences in channel selection, too

9 Our future research will supplement this study with another study from the provider s point of view. We will analyze the opinion of governmental decision makers with regards to the channels they should provide to their citizens. The corresponding data collection will take place in several countries around the world. We believe that the insights gathered there will help decision makers in choosing the right channels for communication, interaction, and transaction in the future. Moreover, we will reanalyze the data separately in order to identify more differences between the single countries. 8. Acknowledgements This research was carried out as part of the activities of, and funded by, the Smart Services Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) through the Australian Government s CRC Programme (Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research). The responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. Additionally, the research project Networked Service Society is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), promotion sign APR 10/805, and is supervised by the International Bureau of the BMBF. 9. References [1] M. Castells, The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture - Volume I, 2nd Editio. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc, [2] G. H. von Bruggen, K. D. Antia, S. D. Jap, W. L. Reinartz, and F. Pallas, Managing Marketing Channel Multiplicity, Journal of Service Research, vol. 13, no. 3, pp , [3] S. A. Neslin, D. Grewal, R. Leghorn, V. Shankar, M. L. Teerling, and J. S. Thomas, Challenges and Opportunities in Multichannel Customer Management, Journal of Service Research, vol. 9, no. 2, pp , [4] A. Payne and P. Frow, A Strategic Framework for Customer Relationship Management, Journal of Marketing, vol. 69, no. 4, pp , [5] United Nations, E-Government Survey 2012: E- Government for the People, [6] F. Bélanger and L. Carter, Trust and risk in e- government adoption, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, vol. 17, no. 2, pp , Jun [7] W. Ebbers, W. Pieterson, and H. Noordman, Electronic government: Rethinking channel management strategies, Government Information Quarterly2, vol. 25, no. 2, pp , [8] OASIS, Transformational Government Framework Primer Version 1.0, [9] V. Venkatesh, M. Morris, and G. Davis, User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view, MIS Quarterly, vol. 27, no. 3, pp , [10] F. D. Davis, R. P. Bagozzi, and P. R. Warshaw, User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models, Management Science, vol. 35, no. 8, pp , [11] W. E. Lodges and J. Jung, Exploring the Digital Divide. Internet Connectedness and Age, Communication Research, vol. 28, no. 4, pp , [12] A. Ayanso, D. I. Cho, and K. Lertwachara, The digital divide: global and regional ICT leaders and followers, Information Technology for Development, vol. 16, no. 4, pp , Oct [13] B. Niehaves, E. Gorbacheva, and R. Plattfaut, The Digital Divide vs. the E-Government Divide: Do Socio-Demographic Variables (Still) Impact E- Government Use Among Onliners?, in ECIS 2012 Proceedings, [14] C. G. Reddick, H. M. E. Abdelsalam, and H. A. Elkadi, Channel choice and the digital divide in e-government: the case of Egypt, Information Technology for Development2, vol. 18, no. 3, pp , [15] Accenture, Leadership in Customer Service: Creating Shared Responsibility for Better Outcomes, [16] D. M. West, Improving Technology Utilization in Electronic Government around the World 2008, [17] Federal Statistical Office, Wirtschaftsrechnungen. Private Haushalte in der Informationsgesellschaft - Nutzung von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien, [18] Eurostat, E-Government Usage by Individuals by Gender, [19] A. A. Afifi and R. M. Elashoff, Missing Observations in Multivariate Statistics: I. Review of the Literature, Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 61, no. 315, pp , [20] Q. Government, Toward Q2 through ICT - Implementation Plan, [21] G. Hofstede, Culture s Consequences Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, 2nd Editio. Thousand Oaks, London, Neu Delhi:,