Impacts of cultural behavior of civil servants on citizens' satisfaction: A survey on licensing services of Indonesian local government agencies

A low‐level of citizens' satisfaction with public services is one of the central issues in developing countries, including Indonesia. Attempts have been made to investigate factors influencing the quality of public services and citizens' satisfaction, as have been explored by scholars with such concepts as “customer orientation” and “customer satisfaction.” What has received relatively less attention in this pursuit of customer satisfaction is a cultural dimension, namely how cultural traits of service providers and receivers impact on the mode of interactions and the degree of satisfaction. This study aims to explore whether local culture has positive impacts on the ways public services are evaluated and received by citizens or not. The type of the study is quantitative research. The total sample numbered is 381 from those who obtained public services. This study applied the correlation and linear regression analysis. The findings of the research undertaken in Indonesia, demonstrate that the cultural behavior of civil servants brings positive impacts on citizens' satisfaction. It is proposed that the reform programs for enhancing the quality of civil servants should pay attention to cultural aspects, which are crucial in determining how government services are perceived and appraised.