What motivates users to report service-related issues? A study on coproduction in a smart public service

Abstract

Public service providers increasingly encourage users to actively coproduce as a means to enhance public service provision. But what drives users to coproduce? Using a unique combination of survey and actual behavior log-data of 9992 smart public service users who reported service-related issues, we examine the extent to which users' self-centered and community-centered motivations are associated with their actual reporting behavior as well as the effort intensity of such behavior. Our findings suggest that users' self-centered motivations are positively related to their actual reporting behavior and effort intensity, while community-centered motivations do not show a significant association. Our study highlights the importance of self-centered motivations in (digital) coproduction and co-assessment. It also showcases the potential of using log data from public services to measure actual coproduction behavior instead of relying solely on self-reported behavior.