Factors influencing indirect adoption of e-Government services: a qualitative study

The intermediary plays an important role in accessing e-Government services on behalf of the citizens, introducing a concept of indirect adoption. In e-Government research, which is a phenomenon for more than the last two decades, there are no apparent theoretical mechanisms to understand indirect adoption in the Indian context. Also, the existing indirect adoption theories are narrow in scope. This study investigates the factors influencing indirect adoption (i.e., adoption via intermediaries) of e-Government services. Grounded theory approach using forty-seven semi-structured interviews is used to propose a theoretical model for indirect e-Government adoption. The proposed model has thirteen factors, out of which access convenience to intermediary, intermediaries’ service charge, risk-averse characteristics, and value-added services are novel factors in the context of e-Government adoption. The study also found some variables moderating the relationship between some of these factors and indirect adoption. While busy lifestyle, cost rationality, resistant to change, and technophobia moderate the relation between intermediaries’ service charge and indirect adoption intention, voluntary usage context was identified to moderate the relationship between lack of resources, lack of computer self-efficacy, perceived difficulty-to-use, lack of multilingual option and indirect adoption intention. The study advances the understanding of indirect e-Government adoption. The findings have potential implications for public administrators and policymakers. As the objective of qualitative research is to obtain an in-depth understanding rather than generalizations, this study draws reasonable conclusion from the small sample. However, further study is required to test the model and for generalizations.