Web Content Analysis on Power Distance Cultural Presence in E-Government Portal Design

Abstract

Governments worldwide have recognized and made e-government implementation as their top priority for a better service delivery to their citizens. Besides emphasizing the use of emergent technology, culture considerations in the e-government portal design and development has been claimed as critical strategy to promote greater citizen engagement, participation and empowerment. This paper aims to explore the presence of cultural values in e-government portals design and its impact. The selection of e-government portals is based on the 2016 Waseda-IAC International e-Government ranking which emphasize on citizen centric. The cultural values examined in this paper focuses on Power Distance cultural dimension from Hofstede’s model. Web content analysis method was employed to explore the Power Distance cultural presence in the selected e-government portals. In addition, statistical analysis was performed to examine possible relationship between Hofstede’s Power Distance Index and citizen centric e-government development. The cultural markers for the web content analysis focuses on visual design elements suggested in the web design guidelines on Power Distance culture. The results of this study show that the e-government portal design conform to Hofstede’s Power Distance cultural dimension. In addition, statistical analysis shows a significant positive relationship between Power Distance cultural presence and Hofstede’s Power Distance Index, and a negative relationship between Power Distance cultural presence and Waseda e-Government Ranking. Findings from this study provide better understanding of Power Distance cultural presence in the e-government website design as well as supporting the notion that Power Distance cultural dimension is correlated to citizen centric e-government development.