Enhancing the Use of Government Mobile Applications: The Perspective of Citizen-initiated Contacts Theory

The ubiquity of the Internet and mobile technologies has increased the adoption rate of e-government services in Malaysia. The focus of Malaysian e-government initiatives is now shifting to mobile applications. Selected visits done on portals of government mobile applications indicate a low level of use, which suggests the need to identify factors that affect the use and non-use of government mobile applications. The citizen-initiated contacts theory can be useful in explaining active usage behaviours and making citizens to initiate contacts with the governments. Extensive studies have been done on citizens’ needs for government services and their awareness of the availability of various methods of contacting the government such as through government office visits, telephone calls, and government websites and portals. Unfortunately, similar studies on the use of government mobile applications by citizens are relatively scarce. Studies on the needs for government services and awareness of citizens of government mobile applications will enable us to understand factors contributing to increasing the adoption rate of the mobile applications. This study is timely as it aims at identifying the profile of users and non-users in terms of their socioeconomic characteristics and examining potential influences of perceived needs, perceived security, and awareness on the use of government mobile applications. Using quota sampling technique, primary data will be collected from 400 citizens (200 users and 200 non-users of government mobile applications) in Malaysia via a questionnaire survey. It is hoped that this research will contribute to e-government and m-government literature, from the perspective of citizen-initiated contacts theory, and provide useful implications for government policy in enhancing the use of government mobile applications.