Service satisfaction among a language minority: a randomized survey experiment on the satisfaction of Swedish-speaking Finns with early childhood education
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the effect of language on service satisfaction among Finland-Swedes, a national minority language group in Finland, in the context of early childhood education. Models of public service satisfaction hold standard process and outcome related factors, such as availability and quality, as drivers of the satisfaction. However, although research has shown significant variation in satisfaction between different groups of citizens (race, ethnicity, age etc.), research has largely overlooked group specific factors as explanations for the satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
A randomized survey experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design analyzed the impacts of language, service accessibility, and quality on service satisfaction. The data was analyzed with ANOVA.
Findings
The results revealed that language significantly impacts Swedish speakers’ satisfaction, suggesting that for minority groups, language may override typical satisfaction determinants like quality and accessibility. Interestingly, special linguistic needs are relatively more pertinent in low-quality services than in higher-quality ones.
Originality/value
The study shows how group related factors of public service, in our case language, in an important factor explaining satisfaction with the service. The findings have implications for the literature on citizens’ satisfaction with public services with demographic and identity facets, especially in a typical Nordic welfare state.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Public Sector Management (IJPSM) publishes academic articles on the management, governance, and reform of public sector organizations around the world, aiming to provide an accessible and valuable resource for academics and public managers alike. IJPSM covers the full range of public management research including studies of organizations, public finances, performance management, Human Resources Management, strategy, leadership, accountability, integrity, collaboration, e-government, procurement, and more. IJPSM encourages scholars to publish their empirical research and is particularly interested in comparative findings. IJPSM is open to articles using a variety of research methods and theoretical approaches.