Citizens' information behavior in relation to electronic-government services: a systematic review
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-10-2021-0212 |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| Pages | 1437-1456 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Morten Hertzum |
Citizens’information behavior in
relation to electronic-government
services: a systematic review
Morten Hertzum
Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract
Purpose –Government information and services are increasingly delivered online through the Internet or
other digital means. To benefit citizens, such electronic government (e-government) must be incorporated in
their government-related information behavior. This study reviews citizens’information behavior in relation to
e-government.
Design/methodology/approach –Following procedures for systematic reviews, this study reviews 53
papers about citizens’e-government information behavior.
Findings –The review finds that citizens (1) employ a rich set of quality, accessibility and non-utilitarian
criteria in their perception of e-government; (2) use e-government in combination with offline channels; (3)
choose channels on the basis of demographic and situational factors; (4) make frequent use of interpersonal
sources and (5) may or may not achieve the intended outcome of their e-government information behavior. E-
government information behavior has a lot in common with information behaviors in other domains, but it also
accentuates certain facets of information behavior, such as the simultaneous use of multiple channels. In
addition, mixed findings are common.
Research limitations/implications –Interpersonal sources, both lay and professional, are integral to
citizens’e-government information behavior. Yet, theoretical frameworks for understanding information
behavior tend to focus on the individual citizen.
Practical implications –On its own, e-government is most suited for simpler problems. More complex
problems require an information behavior that combines e-government with interpersonal sources.
Originality/value –E-government shapes how citizens satisfy their government-related information needs.
This study provides an overview of the otherwise scattered research on this information behavior.
Keywords Electronic government, E-government services, Channel choice, Interpersonal sources,
Information behavior
Paper type General review
1. Introduction
Over the last decades, e-government has become a prominent channel in the communication
between governments and citizens. E-government refers to “the delivery of government
information and services online through the Internet or other digital means”(West, 2004,
p. 16). For the citizens, e-government affords new possibilities, requires new competences and
interacts with other channels for communicating with government, such as phone calls.
These possibilities, competences and interactions shape how citizens access and use
e-government to satisfy their government-related information needs. Yet, the research on this
information behavior is scattered and mostly not published in information science outlets.
The present paper reviews citizens’information behavior in relation to e-government.
This review was triggered by a report stating that 23% of a representative sample of the
Danish population had needed help the last time they used an e-government service
(Statistics Denmark, 2020). This statement sparked several questions as follows:
(1) What criteria enter into citizens’perception of the quality and accessibility of
e-government?
(2) How frequently do citizens use, or prefer, e-government compared to offline channels?
(3) How is citizens’channel choice influenced by demographic and situational factors?
Citizens using
e-government
1437
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 26 October 2021
Revised 11 February 2022
Accepted 12 February 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 78 No. 6, 2022
pp. 1437-1456
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-10-2021-0212
(4) What interpersonal aspects facilitate citizens’e-government information behavior?
(5) Are citizens able to achieve the intended outcome of their e-government information
behavior?
The present review seeks to answer these five questions. While the research on information
behavior is substantial (Case and Given, 2016), no previous study has reviewed the literature
for answers to these questions.
Citizens’government-related information behavior concerns issues to do with citizenship,
crime reporting, education, elections, legal matters, medical care, public transportation,
residence registration, social services, taxes and so forth (B€
ohm et al., 2010;Gibson et al., 2009;
Li et al., 2005). E-government should not bias access to information about these issues but it
appears to do so. A digital divide makes e-government services most useful to the citizens less
likely to be able to use them –the elderly, the poor and those with limited language skills (e.g.
Botric and Bozic, 2021;Jaeger and Thompson, 2004;Nam, 2014). As a result, some local
government staff finds that the shift toward e-government decreases the service they provide
to citizens (Berger et al., 2016).
The present study is, however, not a review of the digital divide literature. It is also not a
review of the technology acceptance models prominent in e-government studies (see, e.g.
Dwivedi et al., 2017;Rana et al., 2015). The present study is about information behavior, that
is, about the totality of how citizens seek and use information across the available sources and
channels (Wilson, 2000). In the context of e-government, information use is often referred to as
solving problems, submitting applications and conducting transactions.
2. Method
Following procedures for systematic reviews, the author selected and analyzed 53 papers.
2.1 Inclusion criteria
Six criteria specified which papers to include in this review. To be included, a paper had to be
(1) about citizens’perception, experience or use of e-government; (2) about the affective,
behavioral, cognitive or social aspects of e-government; (3) about information seeking and use
across e-government and other channels; (4) an empirical study based on data about
operational e-government systems; (5) a journal article, book chapter or conference paper and
(6) in English. The first three criteria meant that papers were excluded if they investigated
government staff (as opposed to citizens), technical aspects (as opposed to affective,
behavioral, cognitive and social aspects) or technology acceptance (as opposed to information
behavior). The fourth and fifth criteria served to bolster the quality of the included papers by,
for example, excluding studies of pre-operational systems. The last criterion ensured that the
author could read the papers.
2.2 Paper selection
The paper-selection process consisted of four steps, see Figure 1. First, Google Scholar and
Scopus were searched for references about people’s information behavior in relation to
e-government. To be retrieved a reference had to contain the term “e-government”(or
“egovernment”or“electronicgovernment”or “governmentwebsite”or “governmentwebsites”)
in thetitle. And it had to containthe term “information behavior”(or“informationbehaviour”or
“information seeking”or “help seeking”or “problem solving”or “information need”or
“informationneeds”or “information source”or“information sources”or“information literacy”
or “digital divide”)anywhere in the paper. Thelast two terms were included to capturestudies
that were notframed as information-behaviorstudies but still dealtwith information-behavior
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