E-government use via social media as a tool to influences young people's trust in government: An empirical study in a Chinese Municipality

Abstract

The conflict in Hong Kong in 2019 again emphasizes young people's trust in government is important. E-government is usually regarded as a tool to improve the levels of trust in government. With the development of Information and Communication Technology in China, social media becomes important channels to provide e-government services. This study investigates whether individual experiences of e-government use via social media can influence the levels of trust in government among young generation. The findings, which based on a survey of 1000 undergraduate students in Chongqing, offer support to a positive relationship between this e-government use via social media and public trust in government. Particularly, e-information service use via social media are linked with greater trust in government in competence and benevolence dimensions. On the other hand, e-transactional service use shows negative impacts on political trust. These results suggest that public sectors in China should improve the qualities of e-government services and create more services contents on social media platforms.