The nature of relationships and friendships can be elucidated through the metaphor of patronage in retail settings, including large-scale discount outlets, online platforms, or comprehensive department stores. The preference for centralizing the acquisition of all necessities at a single location, such as a major online retailer, a vast discount store, or a single department store, rather than engaging with numerous specialized establishments, arises from the substantial convenience afforded by consolidation.
This paradigm underscores the essential function of distribution channels and intermediaries.
Consider the common occurrence of viewers discontinuing their engagement with a particular YouTube channel following its deplatforming or demonetization. Although the content creator may migrate to a smaller, alternative platform, the audience frequently fails to transition. Viewers typically restrict their content consumption to YouTube due to its inherent accessibility and centralized availability. Similarly, a subscriber exclusively utilizing Netflix is unlikely to seek out a desired program available only on Apple TV, a service to which they do not subscribe; instead, they will persist in locating alternative content within the existing Netflix library.
This convenience encompasses established user accounts, pre-saved payment credentials, and, for physical establishments, geographic proximity. Consistent patronage fosters familiarity with the inventory, product quality, and available brands.
Should a preferred brand or product be discontinued, consumers generally elect an alternative available within the same store, thereby avoiding the inconvenience and friction associated with seeking out a different retailer. The sole exceptions to this conduct are instances where the desired item is genuinely irreplaceable, offers demonstrably superior quality, the price differential is significant, or an adequate substitute is simply unavailable elsewhere.
As a general rule, consumers limit their shopping activities to a select few establishments, perhaps three or four, rather than twenty or more.
This pattern is mirrored in the dynamics of social milieus, whether professional, academic, or communal. Relationships and friendships are predominantly forged within these collective environments: places of worship, educational institutions, workplaces, and various social or athletic organizations. Much like physical and digital spaces facilitate commerce, these social settings function as marketplaces for relationships.
The foundational marketplace for relationships is the immediate family, into which an individual is born. Secondary marketplaces include educational institutions, religious congregations, and professional settings, where associations are typically established and sustained over prolonged periods.
The probability of maintaining a relationship is substantially reduced when an acquaintance, schoolmate, or colleague exits that shared environment, whether due to relocation, a change in educational institution, or a career transition.
The friction inherent in sustaining the connection outside the shared marketplace is often excessive, comparable to the necessity of accessing a unique digital platform solely for one specific product.
Consequently, despite initial attempts to preserve contact, the relationship frequently diminishes in intensity and ultimately dissolves.
This phenomenon is also observable when family members relocate to a distant metropolitan area, when childhood friends matriculate at different secondary schools or universities, or when the nuclear family moves far away; the relationships tend to weaken over the course of time.
Therefore, the concept of a marketplace is equally applicable to the formation and maintenance of relationships as it is to the trade of goods and services, and as simple and in some ways, superficial as this may sound, it is profound and real.
By: Milan Ji
Assistant Editor From the Desk of Tae-Sik
February 9, 2026