The digitalisation of public services: evaluation of the SMS service for bac results in Morocco using the SERVQUAL model

Abstract

The digitization of public services has transformed the relationship between the administration and citizens, who have become consumers of these services. Thanks to technological advances, communication channels have multiplied and users can access a multitude of public services from anywhere, using only their phones. In Morocco, this transition has resulted in the launch of several online services, including the sending of high school graduation results by SMS. In this context, the article evaluates the perception of SMS as a means of public communication in Morocco, based on a documentary analysis and a survey of 106 participants, including high school students and their parents. Through a quantitative study and the enriched SERVQUAL model, we evaluated the five classic dimensions of the SERVQUAL model (reliability, responsiveness, tangibility, assurance, empathy), as well as the perceived image of the administration and the predisposition to use digital services. Statistical analyses show that although all dimensions are correlated with satisfaction, the “assurance?? dimension and the additive “image of the administration?? dimension are the predictors that most influence satisfaction. Empathy and reliability also have a significant but less important effect. On the other hand, the dimensions of responsiveness, tangibility, and predisposition to use a digital tool have no significant effect.

Classification JEL : H41

Paper type : Theoretical Empirical Research