[sokoloff]

I wonder how true the preference for relationship over transaction is. I buy fish from my local fishmonger because it’s qualitatively substantially better tasting. If that stopped being true, my relationship with him would end immediately and “supermarket fish it is now, because that’s about 50% the cost”. He can basically only stay in business by competing on quality because he can’t possibly compete on price and there aren’t enough people who would pay his rent out of a sense of charity for the local fish butcher.

[lovemenot]

If your fishmonger is good they've correctly identified you as a quality-driven customer. And for you quality means freshness trumps cut, which trumps knowledge, which trumps variety, which trumps packaging and so on.

Another customer was identified as driven by service, banter, tradition, speed, familiarity etc.

It's all relationship.