E-Government Adoption and Customer Satisfaction of Business Community in Garissa Township, Kenya

Abstract

In the recent past, there has been a public outcry on the government's failure to offer credible digital services thus raising reliability issues within the e-government innovation that has led to customer dissatisfaction. Despite the extensive research on the measurement of customer satisfaction, most studies are concentrated on the private sector leaving similar research on public sector significantly scanty. The general objective of this study was to investigate the factors of e-government adoption that affect customer satisfaction of the business community in Garissa Township. The three specific objectives for the study were: to examine the effect of e-government complexity, the effect of e-government compatibility and the effect of e-government relative advantage on customer satisfaction. The study was based on three theories namely the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Technology Acceptance Model and the Expectation Disconfirmation Theory. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) was identified as the most appropriate Customer Satisfaction Measurement Metric for the public sector. The target population was 963 businesses issued with Single Business Permits that had a physical location within Garissa Township. The study employed random sampling and purposive sampling to select 165 respondents and one ICT manager at Garissa Huduma Centre. Descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used. Split-half procedure determined the reliability of the study constructs. Quantitative data was collected using moderated structured questionnaires and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. The study successfully established that e-government adoption had explained 46% of significant effect on customer satisfaction. E-government compatibility was the strongest positive factor followed by e-government complexity while e-government relative advantage was a non- significant factor. The study recommends that Garissa Township Sub-County government should frequently provide citizens with quality public information, establish functional interactive desks at the Garissa Huduma Centre and create official website in e-Citizen portal. Further scholarly works should be carried out to develop customer satisfaction measuring tools and theories most appropriate for public sector.