Customer loyalty to suppliers—and disloyalty through switching—carry moral significance beyond economic calculation. Maintaining relationships with suppliers who have served well is virtue; abandoning them for minor advantage is vice. Similarly, suppliers abandoning customers or failing to maintain service quality violate relationship obligations.
This moral framing reflects the relational character of Indian commerce—these are real relationships where loyalty matters. As a customer, loyalty does not mean accepting poor treatment indefinitely. It means giving suppliers opportunity to address concerns before switching, communicating rather than disappearing silently, and valuing relationship alongside price. As a supplier, loyalty means maintaining service quality and relationship attention even as customer attractiveness changes, serving small customers well, and honoring the relationships that built your business. How you handle transitions matters: silent abandonment damages your standing in commercial networks where others observe and remember.
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