Satisfaction with Government's Online Services

To get a granular view of satisfaction, government's online services were divided into three categories or types:

• Information: getting information online from a government agency. Respondents were given four examples:

• Find out information
• Subscribe to a news or updates feed (e.g. a RSS or Atom feed)
• Download a podcast or watch a video online
• Sign up to get newsletters by email

• Transact: using the Internet to transact with government agencies online. Respondents were given seven examples:

• Use online tools, calculators or download an application form
• Pay for something
• Apply for something
• Make a booking
• Make a complaint
• Submit information or a return
• Register for personalised online services

• Participation: providing views or feedback online to government agencies. Respondents were given two examples:

• Provide your views online to a public consultation
• Read, comment, or contribute to a government blog or wiki or online discussion forum

Respondents were asked to select all the different types of online services they had used over the last 12 months from a government website. Responses indicate the relative usage of different types of government's online services.

 
Figure 1: Relative usage of government's online services

(Q8. Note that multiple answers were allowed; graph based on 2,653 selections from 818 respondents who had used a government online service in the last 12 months)

Finding out information (88%); using online tools, calculators or downloading application forms (54%); paying (40%) or applying (31%) for something; and submitting information or a return (29%) were the most frequently used online services in the last 12 months. Respondents were least likely to report that they had used relatively new online services from government such as subscribing to a news feed or reading a government blog.

In terms of types of online services, the most frequent activity was getting information online while participation was the least.

Based on which of the three types of online services respondents had used over the last 12 months, they were asked to rate their satisfaction with that type or types of online service(s). Of the total of 818 respondents who had used a government online service in the last 12 months, the number of respondents who were asked questions related to each of the three types of services was:

• Information: 731 respondents
• Transact: 684 respondents
• Participation: 122 respondents

The actual number of responses for each question, which may be lower for some questions if some respondents did not answer it, is shown with the graphs. Comments made by respondents to free-text questions have been quoted in the relevant sections of this document.

Satisfaction with Getting Information Online

Satisfaction (very satisfied + somewhat satisfied) with getting information online from government was 71% while 10% were dissatisfied (very dissatisfied + somewhat dissatisfied).

 
Figure 2: Satisfaction with getting information online

(Q11. Respondents who had got information online in the last 12 months)

While responses were generally consistent across all age groups, there were some differences:

• In the 18-24 age group almost 30% responded neutral, which is more than other age groups (which ranged from about 16% to 20%).
• In the 65+ age group 27% responded "very satisfied" compared with 9% in the 18-24 age group and 18%-19% in the other age groups. The relatively higher satisfaction of the 65+ age group is consistent with the results from Kiwis Count 2007 where the 65+ age group held significantly more positive views about their experiences with public services.

This response pattern is also mirrored in the results for satisfaction with transacting with government online.

Satisfaction with Transacting with Government Online

Sixty-five percent of the respondents were satisfied (very satisfied + somewhat satisfied) while 8% were dissatisfied (very dissatisfied + somewhat dissatisfied).

Similar to the results for satisfaction with getting information online, a fifth (20%) were very satisfied with transacting with government online.

 
Figure 3: Satisfaction with transacting online with government

(Q18. Respondents who had transacted online in the last 12 months)

Overall, satisfaction with transacting with government online is about the same as getting information online.

Satisfaction with Providing Views or Feedback Online

Satisfaction with participation is lower than information and transact. Only 44% of the respondents were satisfied (very satisfied + somewhat satisfied) while 11% were dissatisfied (very dissatisfied + somewhat dissatisfied.

The number of people neutral (45%) was the highest amongst the three types of online services from government.

Not only was satisfaction lower, the number of respondents who said they had an online participation activity with government in the last 12 months (15%) was much lower than those who had got information online (89%) or transacted with government online (84%).

It is however important to keep this result in context:

• Using the Internet for participation online is a relatively new effort for government agencies compared to information and transact activities.
• New Zealand scores comparatively higher internationally in this area. For example, in the 2008 United Nations survey , New Zealand was ranked 6th worldwide in e-participation compared to its overall ranking of 18th.

Figure 4: Satisfaction with participation online

(Q28. Respondents who had provided their views online or read/commented/contributed to a government blog or wiki or online discussion forum in the last 12 months)

Comparative Satisfaction Levels

The following graph provides a comparative view of the satisfaction with the three types of government's online services:

Figure 5: Satisfaction levels (%) - overall and each service type

(Q11, 18, and 28. Respondents who had used a government online service in the last 12 months. Information = 731; Transact = 684; and Participation = 122)

Another way to depict this is to assign a numerical value to the responses. On a 5 point scale, where 1 = very dissatisfied and 5 = very satisfied, the average score for responses to each question was calculated.  For the three types of online services, the average satisfaction was 3.8 for Information, also 3.8 for Transact, and 3.4 for Participation as shown in the following:

Figure 6: Average scores for satisfaction levels on a scale of 1 to 5

(Q11, 18, and 28. Respondents who had used a government online service in the last 12 months. Information = 731; Transact = 684; and Participation = 122)

The lower satisfaction rate for participation is apparent and, as previously mentioned, to be expected.

There were a large number of respondents that were neutral - ranging from 19% for information to 45% for participation.

One way to make the most impact from limited resources is for government agencies to focus their efforts on increasing the satisfaction of "neutral" people, taking them to the next level of "somewhat satisfied". This will also help address some of the issues for people that are dissatisfied with government's online services.

How can government agencies increase customer satisfaction with their online services? What areas should they focus on? The answer to these questions requires an understanding of the factors that influences customer satisfaction. These are considered in the next chapter.

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