Role of “perceived risks” in adopting mobile government (m-government) services in India

This paper aims to investigate the role of “perceived risks” in adopting mobile government (m-government) services in India.

Conceding that “privacy risks” are one of the major factors that influence the adoption of e-services, the impact of “perceived risks” alongside “social efficacy,” “influence” of significant others and “attitude” on the adoption of m-government services in India has been underlined here. Specifically, the study has been conducted with 311 actual m-government users and constructs have been derived from existing theories like Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Multiple regression analysis has been conducted to analyze the data focused on constructs as: Perceived Risks (PR), Influence (I), Self-efficacy (SE), Attitude (ATT) and Behavioral Intention to Adopt m-government services (BI).

Results show that while the respondents perceive that adoption of m-government services is risk-free and safe, there is no impact of the interpersonal relationships on m-government adoption. There is more inclination to adopt m-government services conceding that the respondents perceive that they have the self-efficacy to operate such services. M-government services are being tapped regularly by the respondents and there is more inclination to adopt m-government services among the public sector employees and self-employed respondents in comparison with the ones who are students or unemployed. In terms of age, those in the age group of 31–50 are more inclined to adopt m-government services in comparison with the rest.

Exploration of “perceived risks” and other factors has been less in the context of m-government studies. The present study fills the gap in two ways: first, it undertakes the investigation in a developing country conceding that empirical studies on m-government adoption are few in Indian context, and second, it throws light on the role of “adoption” of m-government services in contrast with the “use” of e-government services.