Factors explaining why some citizens engage in E-participation, while others do not

Abstract

Governments have adopted e-participation, but citizens' engagement in e-participation is limited. While studies have visited the topic of e-participation factors, few have considered why some citizens engage in e-participation, while others do not. Drawing on social capital literature and technology adoption literature, this research suggests an integrated model of citizens' e-participation and empirically tests the model. Using an e-participation survey data collected in 2019, this study finds that citizens with a stronger social capital—a commitment to the community, ownership of the community, and trust in government—are more likely to engage in e-participation. However, the results do not show the significance of most TAM and TPB variables—perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude toward e-participation. Only subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, core constructs of TPB, are significantly and positively related to citizens' engagement in e-participation. These findings demonstrate that individual social capital factors are more significant than TAM and TPB factors in explaining why some citizens use e-participation channels or applications, while others do not. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the significance of social capital factors and non-significance of technology adoption factors when considered in a model that compares between users and non-users.