The Impact of ‘Compulsory’ Shifting to Use e-Services during COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions Period on e-Services Users’ Future Attitude and Intention “Case Study of Central European Countries/Visegrád Group (V4)”

Abstract

This study takes advantage of COVID-19 experience in regards of ‘compulsory’ shifting toward using e-services to evaluate Central European countries’ citizens’ future attitude and intention to keep using e-services after COVID-19 pandemic precautionary measures end regarding the case study of Visegrád Group (V4) countries: Czech, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, considering the impact of users’ satisfaction with e-services during that period, taking age and gender as control variables. Total of 354 survey responses used in analyzing distributed questionnaire answers. The study found 84% of V4 countries’ users between 18–35 years old were satisfied and willing to keep using e-services, whereas only 44.5% of 46–55-year-old users have this future willingness, the vast majority of oldest respondents between 56–65 don’t intend to keep using e-services after COVID-19 pandemic precautionary measures end, while only 16.6% having the intention to do so. Moreover, this research finds no impact of gender on e-services satisfaction, attitude and intention in regard to the study. One of the main contributions of this study is raising attention to the decreasing intentions to keep using e-services among users above 35 as their age increases, addressing this weakness is very important to involve older generations in future digitizing-projects and successful e-government implementation.