Channel Usage and Preferences

"Channels" are the different ways that people obtain government's services. As noted in the E-government Strategy , the number and complexity of channels are continuously increasing and include both direct channels such as in-person, mail, telephone, online, etc. as well as indirect channels such as agents and intermediaries.

People have differing preferences for channels, both in general as well as for a specific service need. In turn, channels have different characteristics and cost implications. Matching a particular service to channels to customer preferences is an ongoing challenge for government agencies.

This survey provides an opportunity to gain some insight into preferences and channel usage of New Zealanders who have a degree of comfort in using the online channel. It looked at preferences of confident online users, both those that had chosen to use the online channel for accessing government services as well as those who had not, despite being confident Internet users.

Reasons for not using the online channel

To get a better understanding of why people comfortable using the Internet had not used a government online service, just under a fifth (197) of the total 1,013 respondents were selected on the basis that they had not used a government online service in the last 12 months.

The most common reason (61%) for not interacting with government using the online channel in the previous 12 months was not needing information or a service from government, i.e. about two-thirds of respondents who had not used the online channel over the previous 12 months believed they had no need for any government service in the first place. As seen from the free-text responses, it is likely that many of these respondents were not aware of the breadth of the term "government". See Limitations for more information.

About 4% of the respondents chose the option "I don't like using the Internet to get information or services from government" while about 14% stated a preference for using the phone or visiting government offices. Combining these two responses means that about one fifth of the respondents (18%) who had not used a government online service in the last 12 months were actively negative about using the online channel (they either didn't like using the Internet to get information or services from government or have a preference for using the phone/visiting government offices).

About 7% of the respondents used an agent or intermediary.

 
Figure 11: Reasons for not using the online channel

(Q6. Note that multiple answers allowed; graph is based on 244 selections from 197 respondents who had not used a government online service in the last 12 months.)

Change in usage levels

For more than half the respondents (55%), usage of government's online services over the last 12 months has remained the same. For a third (34%) it has increased somewhat.

Figure 12: Change in use of government's online services

(Q7. All respondents who had used a government online service in the last 12 months.)

It is not clear from these responses whether the growth rate is a supply-side issue (e.g. slow growth in new or better government's services online) or a demand-side issue (e.g. all the online services people want to use are already available and used to the extent people need to interact with government).

Respondents were asked for their comments and suggestions about ways for government agencies to encourage people to use the online channel. They were also asked if there were any particular services from government agencies they want available online. More details are in Promoting the Online Channel.

While the answer to why there is no or little increase in usage of government's online services over the last 12 months is not clear-cut, issues raised by respondents in free-text responses on usage of government's online services referred to:

• Low awareness of which services are available online;
• Poor usability and difficulties in finding services that are available online; and
• Slow growth in availability of additional online services that people find useful, such as change in circumstances and personalised information (general information complemented by information specific to a person, taking into account his/her individual circumstances).

Government agencies will need to look at their own online services as the answer to the growth rate may well be different for individual agencies or customer segments.

Channel preference

All respondents, whether or not they had used a government online service in the last 12 months, were asked about their preferred channel for accessing government's services. As expected from people comfortable using the Internet, online was the most preferred channel across the board.

Amongst the three types of government online services, preference for the online channel for information and transacting was about the same (63%-64%) but lower for participation (56%).

However, the responses also indicate that even for people who are comfortable using the Internet, some of them prefer to use other channels depending upon what they want to do, specifically:

• Phone, email, and in-person to get information;
• In-person for transacting; and
• Email for participation.

Figure 13: Channel preference for different types of government services

(Q29. All respondents.)

In particular, it is therefore important for government agencies to make information available via multiple channels. At the same time, as previously noted, information across multiple channels needs to be consistent. One of the things respondents were least satisfied with was, "The information online is consistent with the information I get when speaking to a person face-to-face or over the phone."

Few respondents preferred a letter (4%-5%) or SMS (0%-1%) for all three types of government services.

Channel preference for agencies contacting people

All respondents were also asked for their preferred channel when a government agency wants to get in touch with them with some routine personal information, assuming that the agency has their current contact details. While the previous section looked at customer preference for contacting government agencies, this section looks at preferences for government agencies contacting their customers.

Slightly more than half of all respondents (54%) prefer email. About a quarter (26%) prefer letters. The preference for the online channel as a way for government agencies to get in touch with people with some routine personal information, such as showing a personalised message when a person signs in, is a low 6%.

 
Figure 14: Channel preference for agencies contacting people

(Q29. All respondents.)

Responses therefore indicate that many people will welcome an option of getting emails from agencies for routine contacts.

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