THE QUALITY OF E-GOVERNMENT SERVICE AND ITS ROLE IN ACHIEVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THE CASE OF ETHIOPIAN FOOD AND DRUG AUTHORITY

Abstract

Over the past few years there has been a heightened emphasis on service quality and customer satisfaction in business and academia alike. It is apparent, there existence of strong relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction. E-government services are no exception. Recently the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority launched Electronic regulatory information system (eRIS), in a hope to increase efficiency, transparency and facilitate information traceability. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the quality of e-government services dimensions including: Efficiency, Trust, Reliability and Support that are provided by the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority in achieving customer satisfaction. To achieve the objectives of the study, data were collected through a Google Forms online questionnaire that was developed and distributed to an appropriate sample of beneficiaries of the e-services provided by the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority. The sample of this study is made up of 168 participants and a systematic random sampling technique is used. Pearson’s Correlation coefficients and Multiple Linear Regression are used to determine the relationship between the independent variables and the perceived overall satisfaction. The statistical analysis reveals that there exists a statistically significant positive relationship between all the e-government service quality dimensions and customers’ satisfaction of Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority. The Reliability dimension was found to have the highest impact on customer satisfaction. Practical implication of the current investigations suggests improving the service quality which can progress customer’s satisfaction. The findings of this study provide valuable information to administrative authorities of e-government development regarding electronic regulatory information systems, as well as for future researchers and projects in the domain of e-services.