E‐citizen : Developing research‐based marketing communications to increase awareness and take‐up of local authority e‐channels

Purpose – At the English local authority level, there has been significant investment in e‐government infrastructure (e‐channels) in the last five years, but take‐up of these e‐channels is low. This paper aims to look at e‐citizen, a £3 million project funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and led by Norwich City Council, which has developed a methodology to enable local authorities to encourage their citizens to use e‐channels. Design/methodology/approach – The paper undertakes a comprehensive research programme to inform the national approach towards the take‐up and marketing of local authority e‐channels. Findings – The study finds that there are a large number of English adults who are ready, willing and able to use e‐channels, the so‐called potential early adopters of e‐government. Take‐up is low, however, because awareness of e‐channels is low. One solution to increase take‐up is to run targeted marketing communications campaigns. The gross potential take‐up market in England is 17.5 million adults aged 15+. Research limitations/implications – The research conducted by e‐citizen is the largest and most comprehensive study of the take‐up of local government e‐channels in the world. This work has established that there is a large potential market for e‐government in England and that running marketing campaigns is one way of realising this potential. These findings can be applied throughout the UK and also internationally, although the project did not test whether different nationalities might have different reactions to marketing campaigns. e‐citizen did not consider other variables which impact on take‐up, such as accessibility of e‐channels and their effectiveness. Practical implications – The methodology and findings from e‐citizen have already been taken‐up by a number of English local authorities. The UK Government, through the DCLG, has picked‐up the e‐citizen findings and applied them in a £4.6 million national marketing campaign. Originality/value – Work of this nature and scale has not been conducted before. It has been financed by central government but delivered by a consortium of English local authorities, government representatives and private sector suppliers.