The influence of demographic variables on citizens' adoption of e-government

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the influence of demographic variables on citizens' adoption of a recent UK e-Government initiative, the 'Government Gateway'. Three key demographic characteristics - age, gender and education - that provide insights into Government Gateway adopters and non-adopters were identified from a literature review. Data on these variables was collected on a nationwide scale employing a postal survey. A selfadministered questionnaire was sent to 1600 households, with a total of 358 useable responses obtained from respondents. A logistic regression analysis was performed to test a series of hypotheses that were formulated to investigate if selected demographic variables significantly explain the likelihood of adoption of the Government Gateway. The findings of this study suggest that the three variables of age, education, and broadband access at home significantly influence citizens' adoption of the Government Gateway, whilst gender was found to be non-significant. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of promoting the adoption of emerging ICT technologies and reducing the digital divide.