Components of trust influencing eGovernment adoption in Germany

Abstract

User acceptance plays a pivotal role in success of all IS projects. Yet, most of the e-government endeavors worldwide have fallen short of their potential. Online transactions with public administrations are plagued with concerns of data protection and privacy resulting in reluctance to engage in egovernment. Although trust is confirmed to be an effective instrument for dealing with the anxiety of the faceless transactions, the majority of trust studies have been conducted in the context of e-commerce. Until now, relatively little research has focused on the role of trust influencing willingness of citizens to use e-government services. Based on a nationwide representative survey, our study contributes to prior literature by delivering the empirically-validated components of trust influencing the adoption of e-government in Germany. Enhanced with a research model of trust, this paper promotes a better understanding of the factors that halt or slow down e-government adoption in the German household. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.