Information quality and community municipal portal use

Abstract

This paper presents an in-depth research investigation of the role information quality plays in the use of community municipal portals. These portals are a new type of website spearheaded by local governments and community agencies in response to citizen calls for a more user-friendly, comprehensive, and convenient way of accessing community-based and local government information via a single entry point. Prior empirical evidence on electronic government adoption and use shapes the study's theoretical model. The model was tested via a survey completed by 1279 respondents across five community municipal portal sites in the province of Ontario, Canada. The survey polled respondents' uptake and perceptions of these portals. Cross-validation using structural equation modeling analysis indicates that information quality plays a critical but indirect role in influencing a person's use of a community municipal portal. In addition, other end-user factors, namely perceived ease of use and compatibility, also affect usage. Importantly, the need to pay attention to the information quality of community municipal portals is raised as a means of rallying citizen response to this new type of website specifically, as well as to local government websites more generally.