Does Citizens’ 311 System Use Improve Satisfaction with Public Service Encounters?—Lessons for Citizen Relationship Management

Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) based on information and communication technology offers immediate and efficient response to citizens’ needs, and when citizens use the CRM services and in turn have positive service experience via the use of the CRM services, their perceived assessment to public service quality and performance can be improved. This study draws on data from the citizen survey of the City and County of San Francisco to test the relationship between citizens use 311 system to contact with the City Hall and citizen satisfaction with the quality of public service encounter. The finding indicates that citizens who use 311 system are more satisfied with the courtesy and professionalism of public officials than citizens who do not. However, the question-response capacity of public officials has opposite result. Citizens who use 311 system are problem-solved orientated and have high expectation of how well their questions are responded and be resolved by public officials.