1 Introduction

Territorial public policies aimed at the search for environmental conservation, as well as the adequate provision of public services in rural and urban areas, constitute an opportunity to attract tourism and retain population. (Ekins et al., 2019; Rebaï, 2019; Xiao et al., 2017).

In the scientific literature, there are several investigations on the impact of public management on citizen satisfaction. The studies(Bouranta et al., 2015; Bouranta et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2019; Drew et al., 2016; Drew et al., 2016; Fu et al., 2018; Fu et al., 2018; Han & Gao, 2020; Han & Gao, 2020; Sumaedi et al., 2016; Sumaedi et al., 2016) address differences in public service delivery and the level of satisfaction between rural and urban areas. (Zheng & An, 2015; Requena, 2016).

Researchers Fornell et al. (1996), Fornell and Larcker (1981a, 1981b, 1981c) propose studies using the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) by performing an analysis of the causal relationships between constructs of expected quality, perceived quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty. Based on these studies, the present research proposes an innovative method of analysis of these constructs considering three dimensions where each is examined separately. Territorial and Road Planning, Municipal Services, and Environmental Management are proposed dimensions. The results provide specific information allowing to generation conclusions that contribute to decision-making by public managers.

Theorists Zheng and An (2015) such as and propose research in order to analyze the level of satisfaction of citizens through causal relationships in both rural and urban areas Requena (2016); however, there are no studies that calculate the differences in the intensity of causal relationships between SEM models in rural and urban areas, where each construct formed by key variables that act as determinants of the level of satisfaction and loyalty concerning the provision of public services.

This research trabajo addresses the GAP in studies on the differences of causal relationships of the proposed rural and urban model, starting from the constructs of expected and perceived quality, classified into three dimensions 1) Territorial planning and roads; 2) Municipal services; 3) Environmental management achieving the perceived value, as well as the level of satisfaction and citizen loyalty. In addition, this research is complemented by including moderating relationships in the perceived quality of the three proposed dimensions with which the influence on the behavior of the causal relationship between perceived value and satisfaction is analyzed.

This study aims to construct a multi-group analysis in which the differences between the causal relationships of citizens living in urban and rural areas are analyzed to estimate the level of satisfaction and loyalty concerning public services. (Chen et al., 2019; Chevtaeva et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2013; Murgante & Danese, 2011; Pascanu et al., 2016; Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017; Strosnider et al., 2017; Zhang & Zhu, 2020).

The results of this research serve as a reference element for territorial actors, which will constitute an essential tool for decision-making and the design of public policies improving the satisfaction and loyalty of citizens.

This research is configured as follows: Introduction, theoretical framework, materials and methods, study hypothesis, results obtained, multi-group analysis and, finally, a discussion section and conclusions of the study are proposed, followed by the bibliographic references used.

2 Theoretical Framework

The quality of public services is the basis for the proper functioning of cities. The literature has analyzed various quality studies in different areas, from tourist services in hotels and cruises to quality teaching services in the educational field. (Castillo Canalejo & Jimber del Río, 2018; del Río et al., 2017; Djunaidi et al., 2020; Hidalgo-Fernández et al., 2019; Jimber del Rio et al., 2020; López-sanz et al., 2021).

This research is based on a model of analysis of causal relationships between quality expected and perceived by citizens living in urban and rural territories to determine the perceived value and its relationship with satisfaction and loyalty to the administrations that manage it. The analysis of citizen satisfaction based on a detailed study of the dimensions of territorial planning, municipal services, and environmental management contributes to the existing literature. Therefore, to justify this study, it is essential to contextualize the three dimensions proposed in the theoretical model proposed at the end of this chapter.

In the first dimension, from the view of territorial planning, Burgos proposes an approach of supra municipal policies in public–private partnership that promotes economic activity to retain the population. It also analyses the Lestrelin et al. (2017) problems generated by population density and urban sprawl by examining the factors influencing population pressure through the design and implementation of integrated land use plans at the local level. For their part, Torre and Allet study urban development versus rural development with a territorial perspective, concluding that citizens living in rural areas manifest the scarce implementation of territorial planning strategies as opposed to urban areas. Suditu et al. (2014) Studied the importance of sustainable territorial plans to promote citizens’ quality of life.

The second dimension concerns the provision of public services. Studies such as those proposed by Zheng and An (2015) analyze the increase in inequalities between rural and urban areas in China, where they explain that there is a disparity in the level of satisfaction of citizens regarding access to municipal facilities and Sports. As a study method, a questionnaire was implemented with dichotomous variables related to participation in sports activities to measure the level of satisfaction with various factors, such as the season, distance, and the offer of sports activities, concluding that there are significant differences in the level of satisfaction of citizens in the practice of sports activities between rural and urban areas.

Concerning the third dimension proposed, Mellqvist et al. (2016), Giles-Corti et al. (2017), and Hooper et al. (2018) propose a study in which they identify the implementation of sustainable actions in parks considered green areas that include amplitude, nature, culture, and history, determining a composite index of the level of attraction of parks in urban areas.

It is relevant when choosing or recommending a territory as a place of residence for the implementation of environmental policies. Therefore, public institutions manage the creation of green areas by establishing standards that regulate maximum noise levels to avoid noise pollution; they also implement street and sidewalk cleaning actions, as well as the efficient management of non-hazardous solid waste (Newburn & Berck, 2006; Pascanu et al., 2016; Requena, 2016; Sørensen, 2014; Vieira et al., 2020).

Improving the quality of life in rural and urban areas depends to a large extent on the public policy decisions made by governments. The provision of public services has become a determining factor in public satisfaction (Burnett & Kogan, 2017; Dorman, 2014). In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in studies of quality expected and perceived by researchers in the social sciences. These studies make it possible to assess the quality of government management concerning efficiency in the provision of public services. The Urban Institute and the International City Management Association (1974) have carried out studies in collaboration with governments to identify the most critical factors in the management of green spaces, using quality, comfort, and safety as leading indicators (Institute & Association, 1974; Jimber del Rio et al., 2020; Maas et al., 2020).

Once the literature that includes the three dimensions addressed in this research has been reviewed and following the structure of the proposed model, theoretical contributions on studies of the perceived value of public services are proposed.

In recent years, the literature on perceived value as a precedent of citizen satisfaction has had different interpretations, one of the first definitions being that it is a value of judgment between benefits and costs, that is, the value for money. This research proposes an analysis of the perceived value of citizens, comparing the prices paid in terms of local taxes with the quality of public services received. In this study, Zeithaml (1988) and Ravald ad Grönro (1996) argue that perceived value is the path that defines satisfaction. (Hirmer & Guthrie, 2016; Kim & Park, 2017; Kim et al., 2016; Ma et al., 2020).

Finally, a review of the existing literature regarding the satisfaction and loyalty of citizens concerning the public services received is proposed.

Strosnider et al. (2017) investigate rural environments in developed countries, concluding that the level of citizen satisfaction in rural populations is high, which means there is an improvement in the population’s quality of life. On the other hand, Mouratidi (2020) studies the subjective well-being of rural versus urban environments. In its study, it concludes that, in developed countries, satisfaction levels in rural areas are high enough to create a higher level of subjective well-being, while in less developed countries, rural areas cannot compete with rural areas in terms of well-being because they have failed to build their economic and social potential. This research constitutes a guidance manual for political and social actors that, applied in the design and implementation of public policies in the provision of public services, generate a differentiating factor in citizen satisfaction and loyalty.

Academic as Castillo Canalejo and Jimber del Río (2018), Baró et al. (2017), Gautam (2020), Gross and Elshiewy (2019), Khadka (2020), Puška et al. (2021) and Ochoa Rico et al., (2022 propose reliable measures of analysis for the investigation of the perceived quality, which allows understanding the importance of promoting in the political actors the interest of improving the provision of public services in rural areas. Several rural development researchers with a territorial approach analyze satisfaction with the provision of public services as a factor for improving the quality of life (Baró et al., 2017; Le Roux, 2016; Ramkissoon et al., 2018; Suyanto et al., 2019; Tung et al., 2017).

3 Study Hypothesis

The variables used to measure the satisfaction and loyalty of citizens residing in rural and urban areas of Guayaquil, which will allow comparing the results of direct and moderate causal relationships are: 1) expected quality in territorial and road planning (EQTPR) 2) quality expected quality in the provision of municipal services (EQMS), 3) expected quality of citizen environmental management (EQCE), 4) perceived quality in territorial and road planning (PQTPR), 5) perceived quality in the provision of municipal services (PQMS), 6) perceived quality in citizen environmental management (PQEC), 7) perceived value (PV), 8) satisfaction (SATISFAC) and 9) loyalty (LOYALTY).

Once the model has been calculated for the two subsamples (rural area and urban area), a model has been built with the integration of these two samples, and a grouping variable (label) has been defined, which take the values 1 = urban citizen and 2 = rural citizen, then the multi-group analysis calculation has been performed.

The hypotheses proposed following the theoretical framework that justifies the use of the causal variables for the construction of satisfaction and loyalty are:

Hypotheses 1 (H1)

There are significant differences in the intensity of the relationship between urban citizens and rural citizens concerning the causal relationship: the perceived quality in territorial planning (PQTPR) directly and significantly moderates the relationship between the perceived value (PV) and citizen satisfaction (SATISFAC) (Un-Habitat, 2016).

Hypotheses 2 (H2)

There are significant differences in the intensity of the relationship between urban citizens and rural citizens concerning the causal relationship: the perceived quality in the provision of municipal services (PQMS) directly and significantly moderates the relationship between the perceived value in general (PV) and citizen satisfaction (SATISFAC) (Eades et al., 2020; Yukalang et al., 2018).

Hypotheses 3 (H3)

There are significant differences in the intensity of the relationship between urban citizens and rural citizens concerning the causal relationship: the perceived quality of environmental management (PQCE) directly and significantly moderates the relationship between the perceived value of the municipality (PV) and citizen satisfaction (SATISFAC)) (Lv et al., 2017).

Hypotheses 4 (H4)

There are significant differences in the intensity of the relationship between urban citizens and rural citizens concerning the causal relationship: The perceived value of citizens (PV) directly and significantly influences the general satisfaction of the citizen (SATISFAC) (Demographic predictors within local public administration, 2014).

Hypotheses 5 (H5)

There are significant differences in the intensity of the relationship between urban citizens and rural citizens concerning the causal relationship: citizen satisfaction (SATISFAC) positively and significantly influences citizen loyalty (LOYALTY) (Moyes et al., 2016). Figure 1 shows the hypotheses raised.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Research model

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4 Materials and Methods

4.1 Instruments

A questionnaire containing five sections was carried out to analyze the variables that make up the constructs of the theoretical model proposed for rural and urban areas.

First: It proposes a comparative analysis between rural and urban in the constructs that address issues such as territorial planning and roads. The observed variables that provide information are pavements, organization, zoning, roads, traffic crossing, parking services, address information, public transport service, transport terminal services, general satisfaction of the total sum of planning services territorial and road.

Second: It proposes a comparative analysis between rural and urban constructs that address questions about the provision of municipal public services. The items that make up this dimension are quality/price relation concerning the quality of drinking water, garbage collection service and street cleaning, maintenance of parks and gardens, wastewater and sewage management, public lighting, conservation of structures, conservation of historical pieces, cultural activities, social and cultural facilities for public use, cemetery services, organization of social movements, fire services, municipal police services, sports services, veterinary public hospital services, general satisfaction of the total sum of municipal services received.

Third: It proposes a comparative analysis between rural and urban constructs that include data on satisfaction in the environmental management of the territory. The items or variables observed included: noise pollution, air pollution, creation of green areas, recycling points, general satisfaction of the total sum of environmental management services.

Fourth: It raises questions about the level of fidelity and sense of belonging concerning the place of residence. The questions that make up this section are: Would you recommend the services provided by the municipality? Would you recommend family members or friends who live outside the city to move to live there? Would you recommend the city as a tourist place? Would you recommend voting for mayor? Would you vote for mayor again?

Fifth: It refers to the sociodemographic profile of the surveyed population.

Figure 2 shows the workflow scheme followed by the multi-group analysis.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Multigroup analysis workflow schema

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In Table 1 justifies the items that make up the latent variables of the proposed model.

Table 1 Constructs, acronyms, and reference authors
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4.2 Sample

For the study that includes the urban area, the data collection was carried out in the city of Guayaquil in a metropolitan area called Tarqui. For the study of the rural area, the data collection was carried out in the Tenguel area (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3
figure 3

Study area location maps

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The urban parish of Tarqui has a large area with a high population density; a large part of the city’s business sector is concentrated here, which has generated opportunities for economic dynamism. On the other hand, Tenguel is a largely agricultural rural parish and the second rural parish with the largest territorial extension and population density in Guayaquil.

The universe of study for the urban area is made up of 1,050,826 inhabitants, which corresponds to 38.9% of the total population of Guayaquil. A simple random sample of 528 households was calculated, achieving approaches with 521 families, where they were surveyed one representative from each family. To collect the data, we collaborated with a group of previously trained and qualified interviewers who carried out the surveys from October 5 to 11, 2020.

The rural area studied has around 13,000 inhabitants. A simple random sample of 450 households was calculated for research purposes, managing to survey 428 families, analyzing each home. Qualified interviewers conducted the surveys from April 3 to 7, 2021.

The sample population was informed about the academic purposes of the surveys and the object of study, and anonymity was guaranteed. Verbal consent was requested to participate in the study. The questionnaire was delivered to residents of Tarqui (urban area), where 521 valid surveys were obtained, and Tenguel (rural area), where 428 useful surveys were received, with a margin of error of 5% and a confidence level of 95%.

The results section groups the validation calculations for observed variables and latent variables. Once the proposed model has been validated, the hypotheses of the causal relationships of the model are tested.

Table 2 shows the socio-demographic profile of the sample. There is a proximity between the number of men and women surveyed in urban and rural areas, with a higher proportion being under 30 years of age with secondary education.

Table 2 Socio-demographic profile of the citizen in rural and urban areas
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The basic descriptions of the observed variables that make up each latent variable (anexo). From the experimental values, a standout finding is how the citizens residing in the rural area of Tenguel have higher expectations concerning territorial planning, provision of municipal services, and environmental management than the urban citizens of Guayaquil.

5 Results

5.1 Validation

The proposed model has been built based on the latent and observed variables and the theoretical review. Once the questionnaire was validated, Warlp-PLS was used to estimate it.

The individual reliability of the observed variables, the latent variables, and the convergent validity have been validated, and the model’s goodness of fit has been calculated.

Once the validations have been carried out, the differences in the causal relationships between the rural and urban samples are contrasted and analyzed by including restrictions in the estimated model (multi-group analysis).

To check the validity and reliability of the items (Carmines & Zeller, 1979), Collinearity was analyzed. It was verified that the variance value of the inflation factor (VIF) is more significant than five. The results did not show collinearity in the variables used for each latent variable. Following Fornell and Larcker, (1981a) and Barclay et al., (1995), the individual reliability of the factorial loads of the articles is confirmed. Based on the results of these calculations, the measurement model was considered valid and reliable, which means that the structural model can be analyzed.

To find out if the observed items strictly and adequately measure the latent variable or construct of which they are part, the composite reliability values are studied, as well as Cronbach’s Alpha, verifying if they are more significant than/equal to 0.7 (Table 3) (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1978).

Table 3 Composite reliability and Cronbach’s Alpha
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Convergent validity is evaluated with the mean–variance extracted (AVE). Values greater than 0.5 demonstrate convergent validity (Table 4) (b, c; Fornell & Larcker, 1981a).

Table 4 Average variance extracted
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To verify the goodness of fit of the proposed model (Table 5), the following measures were calculated (the threshold values of goodness are shown in the right column).

Table 5 The model’s goodness of fit
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After having analyzed all the latent variables, considering their validity, and an adequate adjustment, it can be confirmed that the results obtained are reliable and applicable, so the multi-group analysis is estimated.

6 Multi-group Analysis

A multigroup analysis has been carried out to compare the results of the causal relationships with the variables that build citizen satisfaction and loyalty. The comparison and analysis process shows that satisfaction and loyalty levels when choosing a residence are different between rural and urban areas.

The proposed multi-group analysis calculates the causal relationships by segmenting the sample, defining a label variable, identifying whether the respondent belongs to the urban or rural area. Figure 4 shows the values of factor loadings of the causal relationships for the models calculated in rural and urban areas. The limiting probability of each one is used to validate the importance of the relationships between the latent variables of the proposed model.

Fig. 4
figure 4

Diagram of the proposed model in rural and urban areas. α ≤ 0,001 (***), α ≤ 0,01 (**), α ≤ 0,1 (*)

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The restricted latent growth method has been used for the multigroup analysis, the same method applied in complete latent growth analysis. Still, we should consider that it is limited to the sub-sample formed by the rural and urban groups that are compared here. The remarkable thing about the restricted latent growth method is that the subsamples analyzed by the standard error methods of Satterthwaite are not more significant than the subsample it explores.

Table 6 shows, on the one hand, the absolute latent growth coefficients and the limiting probability of the causal relationships of the model, and, on the other hand, the significant differences in causal relationships that have not been hypothesized in this study are also observed.

Table 6 The contrast of causal relationships
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Regarding the hypotheses raised and the results obtained in the contract, we can make the following statements:

The H1 hypothesis is confirmed with a positive coefficient (0.060) and a limit probability of 0.002; it indicates differences in the causal relationships between urban and rural citizens. This hypothesis proposes a moderating relationship of the causal variable territorial planning and roads on the relationship between perceived value and satisfaction. The H3 hypothesis is confirmed, with a positive coefficient (0.011) and a limit probability of 0.003, indicating differences in the causal relationships between urban and rural citizens. This hypothesis proposes a moderating relationship of the causal variable perceived quality of environmental management on the causal relationship between perceived value and citizen satisfaction. Hypothesis H4 with a positive structural coefficient (0.420) and a limiting probability lower than 0.001 indicates differences between the results of rural and urban citizens in the causal relationship perceived value-satisfaction. H5 hypothesis is confirmed with a positive structural coefficient (0.583) and a limit probability lower than 0.001, showing significant differences of opinion between urban and rural citizens regarding the causal relationship between satisfaction and fidelity.

Figure 5 shows the model calculated with the differences in the causal relationships between urban and rural citizens’ intensities.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Model diagram with the absolute differences of the coefficients and p-Value

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7 Discussion

In the scientific literature, we find several studies that analyze satisfaction in municipal services that address the issue using different methodologies and perspectives. However, we did not find any study that compares through structural equation models (SEM) two theoretical models of direct causal relationships and moderators between citizens residing in urban and rural areas. This multi-group analysis focuses on detecting the differences in the intensity of the causal relationships and the level of influence (determined by the factorial loads) of the independent variables that comprise the constructs proposed in the model.

Therefore, we must differentiate between the intensity of the causal relationships between the constructs (whether urban or rural) and the average values of the independent variables that make up each construct.

From a general point of view and referring to the differences in intensities between causal relationships in urban and rural areas, we can affirm, because of the results obtained, that there are significant differences in the intensity of causal relationships perceived by urban citizens concerning rural citizens. That is, citizens living in urban areas have higher expectations and perceived quality of public services than citizens living in rural areas, coinciding in part with the studies of Mellqvist et al. (2016), Giles-Corti et al. (2017) and Hooper et al. (2010).

Likewise, the impact generated by the relationship between perceived value and satisfaction differs between urban and rural areas. The level of loyalty and belonging in the territory is higher in urban populations. The provision of public services in the metropolitan area of Guayaquil generates greater satisfaction than in the rural area. Following the literature trend, urban citizens have a higher level of territorial belonging, although approached with a novel methodology in this type of study (Ramkissoon et al., 2018; Suyanto et al., 2019; Tung et al., 2017).

This work addresses the GAP of analyzing the intensity of causal relationships between constructs, comparing two identical proposed theoretical models in which the difference between urban and rural areas in the perception of quality in three specific dimensions is calculated independently: territorial planning, municipal services, and average management environmental. The results let us know the citizen’s perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty.

Likewise, through a multi-group analysis, it is established that there are differences in the ranges of citizen satisfaction with the provision of public services and loyalty to choose the territory as a place of residence. This research highlights the importance of establishing heterogeneous public policies differentiating between rural and urban areas(Chen et al., 2019; Chevtaeva et al., 2021; Strosnider et al., 2017; Zhang & Zhu, 2020). Citizen satisfaction studies provide relevant information to design and plan strategies that generate loyalty, territorial roots, or a sense of belonging.

This study adds two innovative components. On the one hand, moderating constructs of the causal relationship between perceived value and satisfaction have been proposed, establishing differences in the level of moderating influence between the models in urban and rural areas. Furthermore, on the other hand, the multi-group analysis presented in this research raises differences between urban and rural causal models. (Rainero & Modarelli, 2020; Sun et al., 2020).

8 Conclusions

Citizens living in rural Tenguel have higher expectations than urban citizens of Guayaquil regarding territorial planning in aspects such as roads, sidewalks, traffic crossings, public transport, parking, address information, and transport terminals. The average values obtained in the model constructs, we can affirm that the average of the responses of the urban population is 5.5 and that of the rural population is 6.8. This difference is because the rural population of Guayaquil feels less affected by the lack of territorial planning, inadequate infrastructure, and the few commercial areas that affect traffic and the lower population density. However, the perception of urban citizens, after experiencing the quality of territorial planning, exceeds with an average of 4.27 the perception of rural citizens with an average of 3.7, reaching the lowest level of perceived quality in parking service and address information.(Hinderer et al., 2018; Jittrapirom et al., 2020; Makinde et al., 2016; Takatori et al., 2019).

The quality expected in the rural population’s study dimension of municipal public service delivery is higher than that of the urban population. The average response to the expectations of public services in the metropolitan area of Guayaquil is 5.6, while in rural areas, it is 6.8. Guayaquil’s rural populations are more optimistic about their expectations regarding municipal services. These results maintain the trend with the quality dimension expected in territorial planning. On the other hand, the perception of urban citizens after experiencing the quality of municipal services, is higher than that of rural citizens. The services of drinking water, sewerage, garbage collection, cleaning of parks and gardens, public lighting, preservation of historical and cultural structures, cemetery, social activities, firefighting, municipal police, sports areas, and veterinary services exceed with an average of 4.14 the perception of rural citizens with an average of 3.90 reaching the lowest level of perceived quality in firefighting and police services municipal. All these aspects can be improved in both rural and urban areas. (Azimi et al., 2019; Kolesnik, 2019; Lacombe & Cossette, 2018; Md & Ahasan, 2020; Solís-Alvarado et al., 2019).

A notable difference is that the expected quality in the environmental management dimension is higher in rural areas, with an average of 6.7, compared to urban areas, with an average of 5.4. The results obtained from the rural population reveal higher expectations, the perception of rural citizens after experiencing the quality in the levels of control of noise pollution, air, green areas, and recycling points, surpassing with an average of 3.99 the perception of the quality of urban citizens with an average of 3.85 reaching the lowest level in the perception of air quality and recycling points. (Albert & Decato, 2017; Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020).

Therefore, it is concluded that rural citizens’ expectation level is higher than the urban level of the three proposed study dimensions. However, the perceived quality in the urban population’s territorial planning and municipal service delivery is higher after experiencing the service. On the other hand, the rural population perceives and rates the quality of environmental management of public managers slightly higher. In general, citizens’ expectations in the three dimensions proposed for this study are high. Even so, the perception of services maintains a trend of low average scores, influencing the causal relationship between perceived value satisfaction (Eades et al., 2020; Yukalang et al., 2018).

The quality expected in the rural population’s study dimension of municipal public service delivery is higher than that of the urban population. The average response to the expectations of public services in the metropolitan area of Guayaquil is 5.6, while in rural areas, it is 6.8. Guayaquil’s rural populations are more optimistic about their expectations regarding municipal services. These results maintain the trend with the quality dimension expected in territorial planning. On the other hand, the perception of urban citizens after experiencing the quality of municipal services, is higher than that of rural citizens. The services of drinking water, sewerage, garbage collection, cleaning of parks and gardens, public lighting, preservation of historical and cultural structures, cemetery, social activities, firefighting, municipal police, sports areas, and veterinary services exceed with an average of 4.14 the perception of rural citizens with an average of 3.90 reaching the lowest level of perceived quality in firefighting and police services municipal. All these aspects can be improved in both rural and urban areas. (Azimi et al., 2019; Kolesnik, 2019; Lacombe & Cossette, 2018; Md & Ahasan, 2020; Solís-Alvarado et al., 2019).

A notable difference is that the expected quality in the environmental management dimension is higher in rural areas, with an average of 6.7, compared to urban areas, with an average of 5.4. The results obtained from the rural population reveal higher expectations, the perception of rural citizens after experiencing the quality in the levels of control of noise pollution, air, green areas, and recycling points, surpassing with an average of 3.99 the perception of the quality of urban citizens with an average of 3.85 reaching the lowest level in the perception of air quality and recycling points. (Albert & Decato, 2017; Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020).

Therefore, it is concluded that rural citizens’ expectation level is higher than the urban level of the three proposed study dimensions. However, the perceived quality in the urban population’s territorial planning and municipal service delivery is higher after experiencing the service. On the other hand, the rural population perceives and rates the quality of environmental management of public managers slightly higher. In general, citizens’ expectations in the three dimensions proposed for this study are high. Even so, the perception of services maintains a trend of low average scores, influencing the causal relationship between perceived value satisfaction (Eades et al., 2020; Yukalang et al., 2018).

The perceived value, measured as the willingness of citizens to pay taxes for services received in the urban area of Guayaquil, has an average of 4.48, with higher values in terminal transport services, garbage collection, and cleaning of parks and gardens, with lower values in cemetery service and sports activities. The rural population shows a perceived average value of 3.70, with higher values in drinking water service and garbage collection and lower values in parking service, social facilities, firefighting, sports services, and veterinary services. The results demonstrate the perceived value differences between rural and urban citizens. Each area of study has different needs to improve quality of life (Ahmed et al., 2020; Brown, 2018; Li et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020; Pedersen et al., 2018; Rashid & Pandit, 2019).

The level of overall satisfaction in the three proposed dimensions, territorial and road planning, the provision of municipal services, and the management of environmental policies, show an average value of 5.24 in urban areas and an average of 4.86 in rural areas. As for the average level of loyalty and rootedness or sense of belonging in the territory, the urban population is 5.01, and the rural population is 4.61. In general, the constructs of perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty of urban citizens are positively related, maintaining average values higher than those of rural citizens, which are also positively related (Armis & Kanegae, 2020; Buys & Miller, 2012; Gendel-Guterman & Billig, 2021; James & John, 2021; Psomas, 2020; Tsai, 2017).

Citizen expectations are high in all the dimensions proposed in the urban and rural models. The causal relationships analyzed are related to solid intensity. The best-qualified services in the urban area are those related to spatial planning and roads. The highest level of satisfaction in rural areas corresponds to the benefits of environmental management, which generates loyalty to local authorities, confirming the vote in future elections and recommending the rural territory as a tourist site (Abubakar, 2016; Abubakar, 2016; Dempsey et al., 2011; Ghisellini et al., 2016; Jin et al., 2020; Lee & Lee, 2014; Murray et al., 1998; Suditu et al., 2014).

This study was carried out in an urban and rural sector; the samples were taken in specific places, becoming a limitation since it is only applicable to these territories. For future research, we propose to study other regions that allow comparisons in satisfaction levels. This research allows future studies to implement techniques to determine satisfaction and loyalty rates to establish relationships and comparisons.

From the point of view of the moderating causal relationship, which proposes that the perceived quality of municipal services influences the perceived value-satisfaction relationship, it shows a slight and insignificant increase in the moderating influence in rural areas compared to urban areas. This means that the perception of the quality of the municipality’s public services influences the rural population more intensely.

Our research confirms the difference in intensity in the proposed causal relationships between urban and rural models. The relationship between constructs is positive and significant. However, the intensity of influence between constructs in urban areas is more significant than in rural areas. This is due to the scores obtained in the observed variables that comprise each construct. Although the intensity of the influences between constructs is intense in the two models compared, urban citizens perceive a higher quality in the provision of municipal services and territorial planning. On the other hand, the rural population perceives environmental management with a higher level of quality.

Public administrations, municipal managers, and organizations that provide different public services have a reference tool in this study since knowing the differences in rural and urban areas allows them to implement adequate and well-directed policies to meet the needs of citizens (Sharma & Singh, 2021).

This study was carried out in an urban and rural sector; the samples were taken in specific places, becoming a limitation since it is only applicable to these territories. For future research, we propose to study other regions that allow comparisons in satisfaction levels. This research opens the way to future studies to implement techniques to determine satisfaction and loyalty rates to establish relationships and comparisons.