An interaction effect of perceived government response on COVID-19 and government agency’s use of ICT in building trust among citizens of Pakistan

Abstract

PurposeAmong the digital age players, one of the fastest-growing digital channels is social media. In the past few years, developing nations’ government entities and political parties started using social media platforms to broadcast important information regarding decisions made at the state level. Pakistan is among those countries. Therefore, this study aims to empirically investigate the impact of the government agency’s provision of quality information on social media in establishing trust among citizens of Pakistan in a government agency with an underlying mechanism of citizens’ perception about agency’s transparency and responsiveness along with moderating role of perceived government response on COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 542 social media followers of the Associated Press of Pakistan (a government news agency) and was analysed using measurement and structural models by using SmartPLS 3.3.0.FindingsResults revealed that the interactive effect of government response on COVID-19 and government agency’s provision of quality information on social media strengthens the association of government presence on social media with citizens’ perception of the agency’s transparency and responsiveness and their trust in the agency.Practical implicationsFurthermore, the current study will contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the government agency’s use of information and communication technology and the government’s resultant response on COVID-19.Originality/valueAn extensive study of the literature revealed a gap available regarding the mediatory role of the citizens’ perception about agency’s transparency and responsiveness in between the association of government agency’s provision of quality information on social media and citizens’ trust in the government agency. Also, to the best of the author’s knowledge, no study to date has investigated the moderating role of government response on COVID-19 in between the relationship of government agency’s provision of quality on social media and citizens’ trust in the government agency and their perception about agency’s transparency and responsiveness. Thus, the current study aimed to address these existing gaps in the literature.