Captivity revisited

Captivity to a choice is an aspect of the choice process that is not well u nderstood in the transportation area. The current context of understanding of this phenomenon is superficial and covers only being physically constrai ned to a single choice. However, there are many related concepts and behavi oral phenomena, as discussed in various other fields, such as brand or serv ice loyalty, brand switching, resistance to change, and habit formation, th at can contribute to the formation of some degree of captivity. Furthermore , a deeper understanding of these phenomena is becoming important to the tr ansportation industry because of high levels of competition. For instance, it has become important for airline companies to develop customer loyalty t o survive in the industry, after the airline industry in the United States was deregulated in 1978. The main aim of this work, therefore, is to develo p a broad framework for describing the fundamentals of captivity, i.e., wha t, how, and when the underlying processes bring about captivity, and to for m a theoretical basis for it. After presenting a framework within which cap tivity can be described, a way of handling it through "stated choices" is t ested by means of a modeling effort using intercity travel mode choice data from Saudi Arabia. The travel mode choice models calibrated for two trip p urposes indicate the feasibility of this method. Finally, conclusions and t he areas that need further research are presented.