Government service provider image and the halo effect from online advisory services

As modern technologies pave the way for e-government, 'citizen-centric' government service delivery has deeply penetrated into the public's mind. It has been commonly recognized that public administrative processes should target the benefit of the general public rather than the convenience of bureaucracies (Dayal and Johnson, 2000). Against this background, the image of government as a service provider has become a key concern of many government agencies, which are striving to provide more sophisticated services to the general public. This study aims to explore the impact of online advisory services in the form of online Intelligent Support Systems (ISS) which integrate technologies including the Internet, rule bases and decision support systems, on the public's perception of the government image as a service provider. The study reveals interesting halo effects from different online advisory tools on government agency portals. It provides meaningful insights into how to effort-effectively 'please' citizens and is of interest to researchers, practitioners and government officials.