The Influence of Wi-Fi Service on Hotel Consumer Satisfaction

Abstract

As people become increasingly mobile and constantly in need of Internet connection, the importance of wireless Internet is strongly emphasized in our daily lives. In travel context, the provision of Wi-Fi service for hotel customers is a critical factor to improve their satisfaction and therefore to encourage their return intention and positive recommendation. The objective of this study is to identify the important activities and aspects of Wi-Fi service in hotels to maximize customer satisfaction in accordance with the staying purpose of customers. First, the activities using hotel Wi-Fi service that are considered important by leisure and business travelers are examined. In addition, several aspects of hotel Wi-Fi service that are identified to have high correlations with overall Wi-Fi use satisfaction are selected (i.e., ease of connection, security, speed, and cost adequacy), and then correlation analyses are performed to examine the relationships between these factors and the overall hotel satisfaction, return intention, and recommendation intention. The result of this study indicates that (1) the need of Wi-Fi service in a hotel is higher for business travelers than leisure travelers, (2)leisure travelers and business travelers have different needs for Wi-Fi use activities, (3)both groups need Wi-Fi service mostly for business activities and e-mail communication, (4) customer satisfaction with the aspects of Wi-Fi service is highly correlated with overall hotel use satisfaction, return intention, and positive recommendations, while satisfaction with cost adequacy is the only aspect that is negatively correlated with unfavorable eWOM diffusion behavior. Based on the results, several managerial implications for Wi-Fi service adoption and development are provided.