Analyzing the determinants of user behavior toward the Sipenduduk e-government application in Pekanbaru city

Abstract

This study aims to examine the determinants of citizen behavior toward the Sipenduduk e-government application in Pekanbaru City by extending the Unified Model of Electronic Government Adoption (UMEGA) through the inclusion of trust in government and hedonic motivation. A quantitative explanatory approach was employed using survey data collected from 393 active users of the Sipenduduk application. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.0 to assess both measurement and structural models. The findings reveal that performance expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, and trust in government significantly influence citizens’ attitudes toward using the application. Attitude, in turn, significantly affects behavior toward using e-government services. However, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and perceived risk do not show significant effects on behavioral outcomes. The model demonstrates strong explanatory power for attitude (R² = 0.583) and moderate explanatory power for behavior (R² = 0.285), highlighting the central role of psychological and institutional factors in shaping adoption behavior. These findings suggest that local governments should not only enhance the technical performance of digital services but also strengthen public trust and create engaging user experiences to increase sustained usage of e-government applications.