Mediating Role of System Reliability in the Relationship between E-Government Service Quality, Citizen Trust, and Service Usage: Evidence from Jordan’s Public Service Sector

Abstract

This study investigates the mediating effect of system reliability (SR) between e-government service quality (EGSQ), citizen trust (CT) and service usage (SU) in the public service sector in Jordan. Despite the high investments made in digital governance initiatives, in many developing contexts, little has been achieved in terms of sustained citizen participation, meaning that citizens do not only perceive quality in service but continue to use e-government platforms. The study is based on the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model (ISSM) as well as the Trust Based Adoption Framework and posits that the socio-technical construct of ‘system reliability’ is a key construct that links service quality perceptions to the formation of trust and actual usage behavior. A structured survey was conducted with a sample of 428 citizens who were using e-government services in Jordan, measuring citizens’ perceptions of EGSQ, SR, CT and SU. The hypothesized relationships and mediation effects were tested by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) software program AMOS 24.0. The results showed that EGSQ has a significant positive effect towards SR, CT and SU. Importantly, SR found to partially mediate the relationships between service quality, trust and usage, suggesting its mediating role to enhance the service quality to usage relationship. The results of the bootstrapping analysis also indicated the importance of indirect effects, and the multi-group analysis results indicated that the structural relationships were stable for the demographic groups. The findings highlight that reliable system performance is essential for sustaining CT and encouraging continued use of digital government services. The study contributes to theory by extending established information systems and trust-based models through the integration of SR as a key mediating construct. Practically, it emphasizes that governments must prioritize system stability and operational consistency alongside service quality improvements to ensure effective digital governance outcomes.