Perceived Sustainability of E-Government and Citizen Satisfaction: A Demand-Side Perspective on Public Digital Investment Priorities

Abstract

This study takes a demand-side perspective on sustainable digital government, examining how citizens perceive and value the sustainability of public digital services. The transition to a digital and circular economy places public institutions, no less than firms, under pressure to deliver digital transformation in ways that are technologically robust, socially inclusive, and environmentally responsible; whether citizens register those efforts, as well as in what order, is an open question. Framed by the human-centric logic of Industry 5.0, this study examines how three perceived sustainability dimensions of public digital services (technological, social, and environmental) shape the value citizens derive from e-government services and how that perceived value converts into satisfaction. Using a quantitative design, we surveyed 412 Lithuanian citizens who actively use e-government platforms and tested the model through correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analysis. Perceived technological sustainability showed the strongest association with perceived value and satisfaction, followed by perceived social sustainability and then perceived environmental sustainability, whose contribution is the smallest of the three and materializes chiefly where citizens recognize tangible benefits. Each dimension was measured as a single reflective composite of three self-reported items; the attribute labels used in the separate ranking exercise are not identical to these constructs and the two sets of results should not be read interchangeably. Perceived value emerges as the critical link between perceived sustainability and citizen satisfaction, and citizens rank usability, security, and reliability as their top priorities. The findings indicate a clear hierarchy in citizens’ priorities: value is generated first where systems are perceived as reliable and secure, and only then where inclusiveness and ecological benefits are visible to users. Because all constructs are perceptual, the results describe how citizens rank the sustainability attributes of public digital services, not the fiscal returns of any particular spending decision; linking these perceptions to budgetary data remains a task for future research.