No app, no entry: conceptualizing digital technology captivity in service access

Abstract

We introduce Digital Technology Captivity (DTC), a form of consumer vulnerability that arises when digital technologies become the mandatory gateway to essential services. When access is tied to systems that feel unfamiliar, complex, or intimidating—and when preferred alternatives are limited—consumers may experience heightened vulnerability alongside feelings of stress and entrapment. In these situations, they must work out how to cope: adapt to the technology, often with emotional or cognitive strain, or abandon the service altogether. In this conceptual paper, we treat DTC as related to—but meaningfully distinct from—service captivity. Using Lazarus and Folkman's stress-and-coping framework, we outline how DTC develops and highlight the moderators that shape it. The resulting framework offers service providers a way to understand the unintended consequences of digital-only access and the challenges it creates for different consumer groups.

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