Comparing attitudes towards adoption of e-government between urban users and rural users: an empirical study in Chongqing municipality, China

Urban–rural divide becomes an obstacle to the development of e-government in China. This research devotes to promoting the adoption of e-government in China. It investigates the attitudes of urban residents versus rural residents toward e-government use in Chongqing, one of most important municipalities of China which is fraught with a serious urban–rural divide. A research model is created to assess the differences between urban and rural residents according to previous literatures and theories. A Structural Equation Model approach is employed to examine the research model. The survey data were collected from 596 urban residents and 477 rural residents in Chongqing. The results reveal that there are differences between urban and rural groups. Many enabling factors and inhibiting factors in previous studies, such as perceived behavioural control and resistance to change, can positively influence rural residents’ intentions to use but fail to exert great effects on urban residents’ motivations. Thus, it is necessary for government agencies in China to take actions based on those significant enabling factors and inhibiting factors to promote e-government acceptance. In addition, it is also necessary to conduct deeper research on e-government acceptance of urban residents in China.