The Relative Impact of Wi-Fi Service on Young Consumers’ Hotel Booking Online [Summary]

Abstract

The overall objective of this research was to widen the understanding of the importance of Wi-Fi while booking rooms online. Free Wi-Fi is now the most important amenity for hotels, according to recent studies. The results of this study indicate that for young adults, Wi-Fi access and Wi-Fi rates are less relevant when booking an online hotel, as updated by other travelers. Less familiar brands could benefit from the adoption and active promotion of high-quality Wi-Fi through online campaigns with young adults.

Wi-Fi in-room, as other users have checked, also has more benefit than the price paid for the Wi-Fi service by the hotels. It suggests that a free Wi-Fi device in a reservation situation cannot counter improperly tested Wi-Fi. On the other hand, the Wi-Fi fee could be paid in a hotel with good wireless Internet access. Hotels which have invested in high-quality Wi-Fi facilities, particularly to allow visitors to check their Wi-Fi experiences online, should also have a premium. It may not be effective to simply cut room rates to cover an unreliable Wi-Fi coverage.

From a managerial perspective, therefore, the results suggest that investing in an adequate Wi-Fi infrastructure and including room rates costs should improve the position of a hotel in highly competitive, undifferentiated or both markets.