Examining the negative relationship between length of stay at a hotel and customer satisfaction: evidence from online customer reviews

Purpose Studies that investigate the length of stay as a predictor of consumer post-purchase behavior are rare despite its importance in efficient hotel management. By analyzing online customer reviews, this study aims to fill this gap in the extant literature on the relationship between length of stay and customer satisfaction level. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected and used online review data on hotels in London for this study. A series of linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the effect of length of stay on customer satisfaction as measured by review ratings. The authors used the Mahalanobis matching approach to confirm the empirical findings. Findings This analysis shows that length of stay is negatively associated with customer satisfaction. Additionally, the authors find that this negative relationship is stronger in high-end hotels than in low-end hotels. Research limitations/implications The research findings contribute to the literature by shedding light on a new stream of research, namely, length of stay. Additionally, the research findings offer novel insights that could help hotel managers understand the trade-off between longer stays and customer satisfaction. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first few studies to show the systematic impact of length of stay on the valence of online review ratings, as well as the moderating effect of hotel levels by analyzing customer online reviews on hotel experiences.