Repeated Use of E-Gov Web Stes
Moderating.Effects.of.Gender.and.Race
Gender differences in technology adoption, usage behavior and perception has been extensively studied in various literatures. Several studies suggest that gender difference is a strong predicator of a user’s usage behavior and perception of technology. Gefen and Straub (1997) found that women and men show difference in perceptions and usage of e-mail. Their study confirms that women and men differ in their perception of the social presence of e-mail. Women also perceive a higher value of usefulness than men do. Their research supports the notion that men feel more at ease with computers than women do. Other studies point out that that gender differences play a significant role in a user’s online purchase intention (Kim & Kim, 2004; Larsen & Oystein, 2005; Slyke, Comunale, & Belanger, 2002).
Male employees have a tendency to use the internet more frequently then female workers in an organization (Larsen & Oystein, 2005). In contrast to gender differ- ences on technology adoption research, studies researching racial differences with the intention of using technology or usage behavior are few. However, Kolodinsky, Hogarth, and Hilgert (2004) found that there is no significant difference between various races while considering the utilization of e-banking.
Based on these previous research findings, we propose the next two hypotheses.
Hypothesis.4:.Gender difference will have a moderating effect on the relationship between the user’s level of satisfaction with an e-gov Web site and the user’s inten- tion to continue to use the e-gov Web site.
Hypothesis.5: Race difference will have a moderating effect on the relationship between the user’s level of satisfaction with the e-gov Web site and the user’s inten- tion to continue to use the e-Gov Web site.
Cha, Herath, Park, & Rao
Fedaghi, 2005; Stalder, 2002). Currently, one of the major concerns is information security. This is primarily due to the fact that a user’s private information obtained by an unauthorized individual, whether internal or external to an organization, can be harmful ( Hexmoor, Bhattaram, & Wilson, 2004).
Government agencies have taken steps toward implementing policies that regulate and direct the sharing of information to protect the privacy and security of personal data. The federal government plays an important role in many existing regulation efforts. Among the federal government regulations, The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial Service Modernization Act, is supported and enforced by numerous national agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Reserve (FED), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Another important federal regulation enacted by the FTC, “Fair Information Practices” in the area of electronic markets encourages Web sites to notify online customers about privacy policies in practice, provide customers with access to their personal information collected by the electronic banks, and secure customer information from leaks. In the health sector, implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which was designed to stream- line the health industry’s inefficiencies, had the primary objective of guaranteeing security and privacy of health information.
Besides government attention to this issue, many researchers have studied the impact of privacy concerns on businesses in privacy, trust, confidentiality-related studies in information systems, electronic commerce, or marketing research. Researchers have found that a substantial percentage of the population is, to some degree, concerned about threats to privacy. Such threats to privacy may stem from new digital technolo- gies, free markets and the virtually unlimited exchange of electronic information (Lester, 2001). Risk can be defined as “a consumer’s perceptions of the uncertainty and adverse consequences of engaging in an activity” (Dowling & Staelin, 1994, p.
119). Hoffman, Novak, and Peralta (1999) reported that consumers fear to provide credit card information to commercial Web vendors, simply because they lack enough trust to engage in business relationships involving financial transactions.
A study carried out by Ribbink, Riel, Liljander, and Streukens (2004) shows that e-trust has a significant positive effect on loyalty. Furthermore, assurance is shown to affect continued use positively both via customer satisfaction and e-trust. Without trust, the relationship between online buyers and sellers on the Internet will neither take place nor continue (Ambrose, 1998). Users are unlikely to trust a Web site if they perceive their online experience as not sufficiently secure (Vatanasombut, Stylianou,
& Igbaria, 2004). Results of a survey study conducted by Brown and Muchira (2004) indicated that both errors in handling personal information and invasion of privacy have a significant inverse relationship with online purchase behavior. That is, the way in which personal data is handled appears to be critical. This may be partly due to the risk perceived by the consumer. The direct influence of perceived risk
Repeated Use of E-Gov Web Stes
on intention is related to the notion of perceived behavioral control in the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991, 1985). Individuals are likely to hold beliefs of high personal control when they feel assured of the privacy of their personal information.
Although many of these studies focus on the commercial Web sites and customer relations, the theories and lessons can be similarly applied to e-government.
Privacy is defined in several ways in different contexts. Privacy is the ability of an individual to control the terms under which personal information is acquired and used (Culnan et al., 1999). It can be the expectation of anonymity, the expectation of fairness and control over personal information, or the expectation of confidentiality (Berman & Mulligan, 1999). Compared to the concept of privacy, confidentiality refers to the ways in which the information is handled and used (Commission, 2001), a tool for protecting privacy (NILAC, 1995). In general, confidential information refers to any information kept in confidence such that its revelation requires the consent of its owner (Al-Fedaghi, 2005). For this reason, the notion of confidentiality is usually applied to private information, government secrets and trade secrets (Coleman, 1993).
Thus, confidentiality can be perceived in terms of the user’s perception regarding how their personal information will be handled by the government and to what level it will be protected. In the absence of direct knowledge of the process of how their personal information is handled, confidentiality may be perceived by a user in terms of how much personal information a particular service needs. Therefore, if users use a government Web site for purposes of searching for information such as tax, election date, and so forth, they may perceive the risk to be low, since they do not provide the government Web site any private information for such a simple search. However, if they use the Web site for paying taxes, updating licenses or getting permits, where they have to provide personal information on the Web site, they may perceive the risk to be high and, hence, the perceived confidentiality to be low. For this rationale, we hypothesize:
Hypothesis.6:.The need for confidential information for a particular task by an e- gov Web site will negatively affect the user’s intention to continue to use the e-gov Web site.
Customer satisfaction has been studied in the context of physical environments and human interactions. A SERVQUAL dimension used in an online context includes reliable/prompt responses, access, ease of use, attentiveness, security and credibility.
Balasubramanian, Konana, and Meon (2003) suggested that dimensions such as tangibles, empathy and responsiveness—which are important in a traditional envi- ronment—are less applicable in an online environment. However, they found that in an online investment market where potential transactions may contain sensitive
Cha, Herath, Park, & Rao
information, perceived security has considerable effect on consumer satisfaction mediated through trustworthiness. Based on this, we propose:
Hypothesis.7: The need for confidential information for a particular task by an e-gov Web site will negatively effect the user’s satisfaction towards the e-gov Web site.
Moderating.Effects.of.Gender.and.Race
Many studies have discussed trust and perception of risk in great detail. A general norm seems to be that disposition to trust may affect the perception of risk in ad- dition to various environmental factors, such as the nature of the situation or task.
Prior literature suggests that the presence of privacy concerns leads to suspicion, which subsequently leads to active behavior. People who are concerned with privacy and take action to protect it are also less likely to continue online behavior, such as subscribing and purchasing (Dommeyer & Gross, 2003). On the opposite spectrum, Salisbury, Pearson, Pearson, and Miller (2001) found that perceived Web security enhances intent to purchase online in that customers who feel secure enough to give sensitive information such as a credit card number will engage in online activity, such as purchases.
Although the results of the studies considering the relationship between demographic variables (such as gender) and privacy have been mixed, available literature discusses many demographic factors that may impact trust or disposition to trust, including gender, race, age, education, income and prior experience. To date, existing literature has considered e-mail usage pattern, communication as well as networking differences between men and women. Researchers have investigated whether gender affects privacy concerns, but several of these investigations have not revealed any gender effects. Phelps et al. (2000) examined a number of demographic variables—sex, income, marital status, education and employment status—and found only education to have a statistically significant relationship with privacy concern. Nonetheless, women have been found to process information in more detail and, thus, are more aware of and sensitive to changes in their environments (Meyers-Levy & Mahesh- waram, 1991). Several surveys conducted in the 1990s as well as a 2002 survey by Harrison Interactive confirms that women conveyed more concerns about the potential misuse of their personal information. Flynn et al. (1994) suggested an explanation in the role of gender or race in perceived risk in terms of sociopolitical factors. Based on prior literature and results of their own study, Finucane et al. (2000) found that risks tend to be judged lower by men than by women and by white people than by people of color. This leads us to hypothesize:
Repeated Use of E-Gov Web Stes
Hypothesis.8:.Gender will moderate the relationship between the need for confi- dential information and the user’s intention to continue to use the e-gov Web site;
and females will show higher negative impact than males.
In a health information-related study, Brodie, Flournoy, Altman, and Blendon (2000) found that blacks are more likely than whites to have concerns about Internet privacy. Most claimed that they were “very worried” about the probability of an unauthorized person gaining access to their personal data. In their study, Finucane et al. (2000) found that white people tend to judge the risks as lower than people of color. Based on this, we hypothesize:
Hypothesis.9:.Race will moderate the relationship between the need for confiden- tial information and the user’s intention to continue to use the e-gov Web site; and whites will show reduced negative impact of the relationship than their non-white counterparts.