Let's hook up fast! Hotel reviews and Wi-Fi flaws

Free Wi-Fi connection is a prevalent service in the modern hotel industry. The effects of Wi-Fi services on customers' satisfaction have been investigated in existing literature. However, the attributes that lead to customers' negative reviews on hotels and the effects of these attributes on hotel ratings remain unexplored. Therefore, this article attempts to fill this gap by using a sample of 4800 reviews and estimating a Heckit model. This methodology allows us to model customers' decisions to write a negative review and rate a hotel simultaneously. The effects of Wi-Fi flaws on hotels' overall ratings are estimated and discussed. Moreover, important managerial implications are consequently derived. Reference dependence and sample selection bias also remain critical when analyzing hotel ratings.