An Empirical Study of Critical Success Factors for the Adoption of m-Government Services in Tanzania

Abstract

AbstractThe rising number of cell phone subscribers in Tanzania provides the government with a new platform for the provision of information and government services to people (thus m-Government). In Tanzania, the use of m-Government services is in the initial stages, and variables that affect its adoption are not yet understood. The goal of this research is to study the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) affecting the behavioral intention (BI) of citizens to adopt m-Government services in Tanzania. The study used the Mobile Services Acceptance Model (MSAM) and extended it to include external variables in the context of Tanzania. To collect primary data from users of m-Government services in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma towns, a survey questionnaire was used, and 253 responses were collected. IBM-SPSS AMOS 23.0 program analyzed the data using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings of the study indicate that perceived usefulness, trust, perceived mobility, power distance, quality of service, awareness, perceived cost, personal initiatives and characteristics significantly influence the BI to adopt m-Government services. Perceived ease of use, was found to be statistically insignificant in predicting BI. Furthermore, the interplay between CSFs, discussion on theoretical and practical implications that follow from the results are presented.KeywordsAdoptionCritical success factorsStructural equation modelingm-GovernmentMSAMTanzania