captive market
No-alternative buyer pool
A captive market is a group of consumers who have no choice but to buy from a particular supplier.
The term implies that buyers are trapped—by geography, regulation, or lack of alternatives: Airport shops exploit their captive market with inflated prices.
Employees limited to a company cafeteria or prisoners buying from a commissary are captive markets.
- monopolyOne seller, no substitutes
- locked-inFixed and unchangeable
- customersPeople who purchase goods
- pricingEstablishing monetary amounts charged
- price gougingExcessive pricing during crises
trapped · no choice · hostage · vendor · exclusive · contract · dependent · gouging · inelastic · supplier · loyalty · switching · barrier · dominant · exploit · corner · squeeze · obligation
- market economicsmonopoly, oligopoly, perfect competition, duopoly, monopsony
- industrial townscompany town, factory town, mill town, mining town, steel town
- monopolymonopoly, monopolization, dominance, antitrust, sole supplier
- No Choiceno choice, no alternative, only option, take-it-or-leave-it, last resort
captive marketfree market
Commerce without state intervention
open market · competitive market · perfect competition · buyer's market · free enterprise
captive, market, capture, captivity, captor, captivate, captivating, captivation, markets