Factors associated with user satisfaction with government digital services: empirical evidence from Kuwait

Purpose This study aims to investigate factors associated with user satisfaction with digital government services in Kuwait from the users’ perspective and develops and validates an integrated model capturing how service quality, accessibility, usability, security and trust shape satisfaction Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey was conducted with 378 digital service users in Kuwait. Findings The research identified five key factors associated with user satisfaction: service quality, accessibility, ease of use, perceived security and perceived trust. The study found strong correlations between all five factors and user satisfaction, with perceived trust showing a significant but weaker correlation. However, only accessibility, service quality and perceived security emerged as significant positive statistical predictors of user satisfaction. Accessibility emerged as the strongest statistical predictor. Ease of use and perceived trust did not demonstrate statistical significance in forecasting user satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The study proposed actionable improvements to strengthen digital service design, delivery and assurance in Kuwait, offering practical guidance for public and private stakeholders and helping build user confidence in digital services. Originality/value Research on factors associated with user satisfaction with digital services remains limited, especially in Kuwait. While prior studies have examined selected factors, several potential predictors have been overlooked or treated in isolation. This study contributes to digital transformation scholarship by systematically identifying key statistical predictors of user satisfaction with government digital services in Kuwait and by proposing an integrated model incorporating five factor – service quality, accessibility, ease of use, perceived security and trust – seldom analysed together in earlier research. It provides a practical basis for targeted improvements and future testing.