The influence of government support and awareness on rural farmers’ intention to adopt mobile government services in Tanzania
| Pages | 42-64 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JSIT-01-2017-0005 |
| Published date | 13 March 2017 |
| Date | 13 March 2017 |
| Author | Herman Eliewaha Mandari,Yee-Lee Chong,Chung-Khain Wye |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Information & communications technology |
The influence of government
support and awareness on rural
farmers’intention to adopt mobile
government services in Tanzania
Herman Eliewaha Mandari
Department of Computer Science, Institute of Finance Management, Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania and Faculty of Business and Finance, Universiti Tunku Abdul
Rahman, Kampar, Malaysia
Yee-Lee Chong
Department of Marketing, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman –Perak Campus,
Kampar, Malaysia, and
Chung-Khain Wye
Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
Bangi, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose –Generally, this paper aims to develop a model by identifying factors which will assist policy
makers in implementing m-government in Tanzania. The paper identifies direct and indirectfactors which
may influenceadoption of m-government among the rural farmers in Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper conducteda survey by using Drop Off/PickUp method to
collect data from rural farmers. Stratified andmulti-stage sampling were used to collect 407 valid responses
from rural farmersin Tanzania. Data collected were analyzed by using structuralequation modeling (SEM).
Findings –The results show that government support has directinfluence, while awareness has indirect
influence through relative advantage, ease of use, compatibility and visibility. Furthermore, relative
advantage, compatibility, ease of use, visibility and results demonstrability have direct influence on rural
farmersintention to adopt m-government.
Originality/value –This study contributes to knowledge because no study in this area has been
conducted in developingcountries to examine factors that influence adoption of m-government. Furthermore,
this study tests the mediating effects of perceived characteristics of innovation which have not yet been
investigatedto date.
Keywords Awareness, Adoption, Tanzania, E-government, Government support, IDT,
M-government
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Communication styles between the government and citizens keep on changing due to the
rapid changes in information and communication technologies. Most governments have
shifted to the provision of public services and information through electronic government
(e-government) platforms (Alateyahet al.,2012). Nevertheless, e-government is perceived to
be ineffective in developing countries (Qian and Aquaro, 2014;Liu et al.,2014). This is
JSIT
19,1/2
42
Received16 January 2017
Revised10 March 2017
Accepted21 March 2017
Journalof Systems and
InformationTechnology
Vol.19 No. 1/2, 2017
pp. 42-64
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1328-7265
DOI 10.1108/JSIT-01-2017-0005
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1328-7265.htm
attributed to insufficient funds for implementing fixed communication infrastructures,
particularly in rural areas (Bwalya et al.,2013;Qian and Aquaro, 2014). On the other hand,
development of mobile technology has been considered as the complimentary strategy to
e-government in developing countries (Bwalya et al.,2013;Ghyasi and Kushchu, 2004;
Kushchu, 2007;Kushchu and Kuscu, 2003). Thiscould be attributed by growing number of
mobile ownership, availability of wireless technologies and low cost mobile (Bwalya et al.,
2013;Qian and Aquaro, 2014). By usingm-government, governments could bypass massive
and huge investments required for e-government infrastructures and thus provide public
services and informationin a convenient way (Ghyasiand Kushchu, 2004).
Tanzania has adopted m-government to serve citizens particularly those who are living
in rural areas (URT, 2015a). However,several studies have shown that lack of awareness on
e-government initiativeincluding m-government and inadequate governmentsupport limits
its acceptance (Dewa and Zlotnikova, 2014;Yonazi, 2013). Furthermore, Yonazi (2013)
reported that there are no sufficient infrastructures,guidelines and operational frameworks
to allow the smooth implementation and operations of e-government services. Studies have
also shown that most of the empirical investigation in Tanzania focused on examining
factors which could influence adoption of e-government in general (Komba-Mlay, 2013;
Komba and Ngulube, 2014), and in identifying challenges and barriers of m-government
(Hellström, 2008;Kyem, 2016;Munyoka and Manzira, 2014). However, one factor that has
shown to affect the successfulimplementation of technology is the willingness of adopters to
accept the said technology (Carter and Belanger, 2005;Mun et al., 2006), and this has not
been investigated in the Tanzania m-government context. This nuance of examining the
factors of rural farmer’s technology adoption and use of mobile access for government
services providesa unique perspective to be studied.
To achieve this objective, the current study extends Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT)
with government support and awareness to study the rural farmers’intention to adopt
m-government services. This study has several significances. It seeks to provide a better
understanding about the adoption of m-government in developing countries, particularlyin
sub-Saharan countries. Thisis because there is a limited number of studies in the region, as
m-government is still considered to be in its infancy (Bwalya et al., 2013). This study’s
extension of IDT with government support and awarenesssees as integration unique to the
m-government field. Therefore, results produced from this study could add to the current
limited knowledge about IDT applications. The study examines the indirect influence of
awareness through perceived characteristics of innovation that would provide better
information on the influence of awareness through perceived characteristics. Finally, the
study could provide more useful informationto policy makers in their planning for the rural
uptake of m-governmentservices.
Literature review
The need of farming information in Tanzania rural areas
Accessibility of public services and information has been a challenge in Tanzania
particularly in rural areas. About 70.9 per cent of Tanzanian live in rural areas and 89 per
cent of them are farmers (URT, 2013b). The country’s economy depends largely on the
agricultural sector whichis the largest employer (Amani and Mkumbo, 2012). This suggests
that the national economy is heldby rural farmers. However, report shows that most of the
rural farmers practice subsistence farming which limits various agribusinesses (Salami
et al.,2010;Wolter, 2008). Therefore, to improve rural farmer’s livelihood and extend
national income, the government has to pay attentionto the needs of the agricultural sector
and rural farmers by providing improved access to useful farming information. This is
Mobile
government
services in
Tanzania
43
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