Evaluating the Effective Factors in Accepting the Electronic Services by Mashhad Citizens

The widespread use of the Internet in urban communities has changed the geographical concentration of services and has led to the emergence of urban electronic services. Improving productivity and increasing access are the benefits of creating electronic services. To achieve these benefits, the acceptance of electronic services in the community should be considered. Given the importance of this issue, the present study evaluates the effective factors in adopting the electronic services by citizens in Mashhad. In doing so, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been used in this study.
Theoretical Framework: Electronic services include all services which are provided through information technology, telecommunications and multimedia and the client interacts only with the right tools to obtain his/her favorable interest. Security concerns, individual differences, and the digital gap are among the issues which can influence the acceptance of electronic services, and block the future growth of E-services. Therefore, evaluating the acceptance of the E-services is a complicated and multidimensional procedure which should consider some aspects of various and disparate fields. TAM is one of the best models that can be used in identifying effective factors and providing effective and sustainable solutions in the acceptance of E-services.
Firstly, through library studies the effective factors were categorized in three dimensions, including individual, social, and technological. Then, these factors were modeled with TAM. In this model, there are two factors, namely perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in the utilization of E-services which leads to more willingness of citizens to use E-services. Meanwhile, the external factors influence these two variables as such.
Based on five Likert-type scale questionnaire, the citizen’s ideas on these effective factors were identified using the field studies and the documentary studies. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.9, which was acceptable. The population of the study was all citizens of Mashhad, whereas380 samples were selected based on Cochran formula. In the present study, some various methods were used for different purposes. Inter regression testing was used to compare and identify the impact of the recognized aspects on dependent variables of the TAM…was used to evaluate the items in each dimension. And finally Friedman test was used to prioritize the confirmed item. The perceived ease of use in E-services influenced the perceived usefulness. In addition, the type and intensity of this relation was identified using the Pearson correlation coefficient.
In prioritizing the confirmed items, some items have higher rankings, including anxiety while facing a computer, personal empowerment, self-security and privacy, quality of doing electronic stuffs, and simplifying the electronic activities process in relation to perceived usefulness variable and infrastructure of the system, simplifying the processes involved in doing the electronic stuff, and also output quality in relation to perceived ease of use in electronic services. Reviewing different studies confirmed these results. In this regard, Vankatesh et al. (2000) reached the conclusion that people’s anxiety while facing the computer is an effective factor of the perceived usefulness in E-services. In the present study, in fact, this item has the highest priority.
Elahi et al. (2010) identified personal empowerment as one of the most determining factors in adopting information systems. In the present study, this item was confirmed as an effective item of perceived usefulness in the use of E-services. Benham et al. (2003) also conclude that one of the main obstacles of accepting E-services is the virtual security of people’s personal information. In the same vein, Mac Color (2000) criticizes the weakness of security of information systems. In Mashhad, this study showed that maintaining the security and privacy influences the perceived usefulness of E-services .Khakpour et al. (2014) argue that simplifying the process of doing electronic stuff is one of the effective factors of accepting E-service and implementing E-city as well as improving security in the net. This item was verified in the present study likewise.
Conclusion and Suggestions: Regression test showed that the three dimensions have direct positive effect on the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use. The perceived ease of use in E-services has also a direct and positive effect on the perceived usefulness of these services. Some of the present items in this dimension influence the perceived usefulness of E-services, some influence the perceived ease of use in E-services, and some even influence both aspects. In prioritizing the confirmed items, some items have higher rankings, including anxiety while facing a computer, personal empowerment, self-security and privacy, quality of doing electronic stuffs, and simplifying the electronic activities process in relation to perceived usefulness variable and infrastructure of the system, simplifying the processes involved in doing the electronic stuff, and also output quality in relation to perceived ease of use in electronic services.. According to the obtained results, to relieve the people’s anxiety while facing a computer and also improving their personal abilities, it is recommended that citizens’ education should be pursued by the government. To ensure the citizens’ security and personal privacy, it is suggested that we should increase the sponsorship by the government, because this will lead to financial supports, the removal of the relevant restrictions concerning the import of tools and equipment, and the facilities of equipment and system integration, which will improve the security of cyberspace accordingly.