I recently came across an interesting article outlining a recent study by Jie Yu Kerguignas, Olivier Furrer, and Ikèle Landry exploring the phenomena of Customer Captivity in the hospitality industry. According to the authors, customer captivity occurs when customers become dissatisfied with a service relationship but feel like they don t have the ability to alter or leave the relationship, "due to a perceived need for the service and a lack of alternatives." A sense of captivity can intensify negative emotions such as frustration or a sense of unfairness with the feeling that the customer s needs are going unheard and that they are ultimately powerless to change their situation. The result can be devastating to a brand s reputation, as captive customers often turn to negative word-of-mouth behavior to vent their frustrations and regain a sense of control. Kerguignas, Furrer, and Landry argue that companies can ease captivity feelings by empowering customers through increa