Evaluating E-Government Initiatives and Public Service Outcomes: An Empirical Mediation Analysis of Perceived Service Quality

Evaluating E-Government Initiatives and Public Service Outcomes: An Empirical Mediation Analysis of Perceived Service Quality

Dalal Mohammed Alasmari., Abdoulrahman Aljounaidi., Mukhtar Idris Abu Baker Adam., Alharath ateik

Faculty of Finance and Administrative Science, Al Madinah International University, Taman Desa Petaling, 57100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.908000319

Received: 13 August 2025; Accepted: 20 August 2025; Published: 09 September 2025

ABSTRACT

This research examines the impact of e-government activities on citizen engagement and satisfaction (CES) within the context of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, emphasizing the mediating function of perceived service quality (PSQ).  Utilizing the Technology-to-Performance Chain (TPC) model and expectation-disconfirmation theory, the research adopts a positivist, quantitative methodology, including structured questionnaires administered to citizens engaging with Ministry of Interior e-services.  We used SPSS and Partial Least Squares (PLS) to investigate direct and indirect correlations between the constructs by analyzing the data with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).  The results suggest that platform usability (PU), digital accessibility (DA), quality of online services (QO), and customer support (CS) all have strong positive effects on CES. On the other hand, public awareness (PA) does not show a statistically significant association.  PSQ has a strong mediating influence between these e-government parameters and CES, but it has an unanticipated negative effect. This means that in high-expectation settings like Vision 2030, higher perceived quality doesn’t always mean higher satisfaction.  The findings enhance theoretical frameworks by expanding the TPC model to incorporate expectation-disconfirmation effects within dynamic digital government settings and by refining variables pertinent to swiftly emerging public service environments.  From a managerial perspective, the study emphasizes the importance of user-centric platform design, effective expectation management tactics, and apparent quality enhancements to synchronize citizen views with actual service delivery.  The results show that for e-government to work well in contexts where big changes are needed, it needs more than just great technology. It also needs to carefully manage what people expect and how they experience services.

Keywords: e-government, citizen engagement, perceived service quality, Vision 2030, Technology-to-Performance , expectation-disconfirmation theory, Saudi Arabia.

INTRODUCTION

Governments all across the world are putting more money into e-government platforms to modernize their services, make them more efficient, and get people more involved.  This digital transformation in Saudi Arabia fits with the strategic aims of Vision 2030, which focuses on empowering people with technology and coming up with new ideas in the public sector.  The Ministry of Interior has been a major actor in providing digital public services to more than 20 million people through platforms like Absher. Even with this progress, there is still not much research on how people see and use these services. Recent studies centered on Saudi Arabia emphasize infrastructural readiness, digital literacy, and institutional trust as essential for user acceptability. nonetheless, the impact of perceptions of service quality and their mediating effect on engagement and satisfaction is still not well understood.  A recent empirical study in a comparable emerging context (Vietnam) revealed that only completion and trustworthiness among service quality traits significantly affect perceived value, highlighting the necessity to disaggregate quality aspects for more profound insights. Furthermore, a 2025 empirical model of digital transformation in Saudi Arabia identified perceived performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating factors as more robust indicators of citizen attitudes compared to conventional categories such as information quality or trust.  This implies a contextual distinction: technical modernization necessitates the integration of user-centered features that foster happiness and ongoing engagement. Consequently, the current work seeks to fill two significant gaps.  First, it experimentally investigates the impact of specific e-government project dimensions Platform Usability, Digital Accessibility, Quality of Online Services, Public Awareness, and Customer Support on citizen Engagement and Satisfaction within the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia.  Second, it examines the mediating function of Perceived Service Quality, positing that citizens’ overall contentment is contingent upon their perception of the service quality of digital platforms. This paper will enhance academic theory and policy practice by elucidating the mechanisms via which digital efforts foster citizen involvement, utilizing data gathered from Ministry of Interior service users and employing Structural Equation modeling. this is especially important for high-stakes institutional settings because trust in the government and expectations of ease of use are important for people to use services.

LITERATURE REVIEW

E-government, which is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in public administration, is very important for making things more open, efficient, and involving citizens (Al-Sobhi et al., 2019).  E-government projects in Saudi Arabia, especially in the Ministry of Interior, are in line with Vision 2030 to modernize government and improve service delivery (AlGhamdi et al., 2019).  Platform usability, digital accessibility, service quality, public awareness, and customer support methods are all important aspects that affect how happy citizens are (Alshehri & Drew, 2019; Al-Matari et al., 2021). Digital accessibility guarantees inclusion for all individuals, irrespective of their technological proficiency (Alateyah et al., 2020), whilst public awareness and education enhance service adoption (Al-Shafi & Weerakkody, 2019).  The perceived quality of services serves as a significant mediator, as citizens with a favorable perception of services are more inclined to interact with E-government platforms (Alateyah et al., 2020).  In practice, more and more Saudi people are using online services to pay bills and renew licenses (Hasan, 2024).  But there are still problems, such as security worries, accessibility problems, and a lack of public preparation (Alruwaili, 2023).  The government’s digital transformation activities go beyond just administrative services. They also include areas like healthcare, education, and workforce development (Mujallad, 2023; Hidayat, 2022).

Problem Statement

The Ministry of Interior’s E-government projects in Saudi Arabia are in line with Vision 2030 and are meant to make citizens more involved and happier by providing better services.  Nonetheless, obstacles persist in platform usability, digital accessibility, online service quality, public awareness, and customer support, which constrain their efficacy (Al-Sobhi et al., 2019; Alateyah et al., 2020; Alshehri & Drew, 2019).  Access is limited by differences in usability between services and the digital divide between cities and rural areas. Even though a lot of money has been spent, usage is low because of technical problems and a lack of awareness (Vision 2030, 2023).  Poor customer service makes engagement even weaker, because perceived service quality is a significant link between initiatives and satisfaction (Alshehri & Drew, 2019).

Conceptual Farmwork of The Study

The graphic shows the theorized connections between different parts of e-government efforts and citizen engagement and satisfaction (CES) in the context of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.  The model identifies five principal independent variables platform usability (PU), digital accessibility (DA), quality of online services (QO), public awareness (PA), and customer support (CS) as direct predictors of customer engagement satisfaction (CES), delineated by hypotheses H1-1 to H1-5.  The approach also includes perceived service quality (PSQ) as a mediating variable, which shows how it affects CES through these e-government aspects.  Hypothesis H2 investigates the impact of the independent factors on PSQ, whereas H3 evaluates the influence of PSQ on CES. The directional arrows show the causal pathways that were looked at using structural equation modeling (SEM), which lets you look at both direct and indirect correlations.  This structure helps us understand better how technological, accessibility, and service-related variables work together through perceptions of service quality to affect total citizen engagement and satisfaction in the e-government setting.

METHODOLOGY

This study employed a positivist research methodology, utilizing quantitative techniques specifically structured questionnaires to investigate the interrelationships among variables affecting E-government projects in public services inside the Saudi Ministry of Interior.  The positivist paradigm was chosen for its capacity to identify correlations and evaluate hypotheses developed from existing literature.  A conceptual model was created to identify the main factors that affect public involvement and satisfaction, with perceived service quality serving as a mediating variable.The survey tool was made to be clear and easy to understand so that it could directly measure how people felt and thought.  A pre-test and pilot research were executed to enhance the questionnaire and confirm its reliability and validity.  Data analysis utilized SPSS and Partial Least Squares (PLS) methodologies to evaluate the interrelationships among independent variables, the mediator, and the dependent variable, facilitating a thorough assessment of the research model and yielding insights congruent with the study’s aims.

Hypothesis Testing

The analysis found that Platform Usability (PU), Digital Accessibility (DA), Quality of Online Services (QO), and Customer Support (CS) each had statistically significant effects on CES, with very low p-values (< 0.001), indicating strong evidence for their influence. Notably, Digital Accessibility (β = 0.992, t = 11.733) and Quality of Online Services (β = 0.824, t = 59.654) showed the strongest positive effects. However, Public Awareness and Education (PA) did not have a significant effect on CES (p = 0.220), meaning this factor did not statistically explain variation in citizen engagement and satisfaction in this dataset.

RESULTS OF THE STUDY

The study’s findings indicate that e-government activities in Saudi Arabia substantially affect public participation and happiness, with perceived service quality serving as a crucial mediating factor.  The investigation substantiates that platform usability, digital accessibility, quality of online services, and customer support exert substantial positive influences on citizen satisfaction, however public awareness and education demonstrated no significant effect.  Perceived service quality had a negative correlation with satisfaction, indicating that in environments with elevated expectations, like those influenced by Vision 2030, enhancements in perceived quality may not necessarily lead to increased satisfaction, potentially due to inflated citizen expectations or discrepancies between expectations and actual experiences.

CONCLUSION

The research investigated the correlation among e-government efforts, perceived service quality, and citizen involvement within the scope of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 digital transformation.  The results indicate that parameters such as platform usability, digital accessibility, and the quality of online services substantially improve citizen happiness; however, their impacts are severely moderated by perceived service quality. A significant revelation is that elevated perceived quality does not invariably result in enhanced satisfaction, underscoring the influence of citizen expectations in swiftly transforming digital government environments.  The study enhances theoretical frameworks by adapting e-SERVQUAL for dynamic e-government contexts and expanding the Technology-to-Performance Chain to incorporate expectation-disconfirmation effects.  In practical terms, it suggests designing with the user in mind, being clear about what to anticipate, and making quality improvements that everyone can see.  Its concentration on the Ministry of Interior and its cross-sectional approach are limitations that imply the need for additional longitudinal or comparative investigations.

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