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Commercial Friendships During a Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Virgil Henry Storr

    (George Mason University
    The Mercatus Center)

  • Rachael K. Behr

    (George Mason University
    The Mercatus Center)

  • Michael R. Romero

    (George Mason University
    The Mercatus Center)

Abstract

Although much of the nascent scholarship on COVID-19 has highlighted the tremendous health, economic, and social consequences of the pandemic, what has been underappreciated is the loss of commercial friendships due to the pandemic. Markets are social spaces where individuals can meet and form meaningful connections. But, because many market interactions that would have taken place in person before the pandemic moved remote and online, or were cancelled altogether, the COVID-19 pandemic has limited the ability of market participants to form and maintain meaningful social bonds. Indeed, we argue that COVID-19 is a disruptor of the formation and continuance of these commercial relationships. Specifically, we find that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) commercial interactions have become more anonymous and less personalized; (2) the formation and maintenance of commercial friendships are hindered because of the transition to virtual platforms, which are imperfect substitutes for in person connections; (3) during lockdowns, individuals spend more time interacting with closer ties rather than weaker ties; and (4) during the pandemic commercial settings are less likely to serve as social arenas.

Suggested Citation

  • Virgil Henry Storr & Rachael K. Behr & Michael R. Romero, 2023. "Commercial Friendships During a Pandemic," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 357-382, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:36:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11138-021-00556-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-021-00556-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Emily Chamlee-Wright & Virgil Henry Storr, 2009. "Club Goods and Post-Disaster Community Return," Rationality and Society, , vol. 21(4), pages 429-458, November.
    2. Juliet Ruth Helen Wakefield & Fabio Sani & Vishnu Madhok & Michael Norbury & Pat Dugard & Carlo Gabbanelli & Mario Arnetoli & Giampiero Beconcini & Lucia Botindari & Franco Grifoni & Paola Paoli & Fab, 2017. "The Relationship Between Group Identification and Satisfaction with Life in a Cross-Cultural Community Sample," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 785-807, June.
    3. Arnstein Aassve & Guido Alfani & Francesco Gandolfi & Marco Le Moglie, 2021. "Epidemics and trust: The case of the Spanish Flu," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 840-857, April.
    4. Virgil Henry Storr & Stefanie Haeffele & Jordan K. Lofthouse & Laura E. Grube, 2021. "Essential or not? Knowledge problems and COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home orders," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(4), pages 1229-1249, April.
    5. Virgil Storr, 2008. "The market as a social space: On the meaningful extraeconomic conversations that can occur in markets," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 21(2), pages 135-150, September.
    6. Michael J. Rosenfeld & Reuben J. Thomas & Sonia Hausen, 2019. "Disintermediating your friends: How online dating in the United States displaces other ways of meeting," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(36), pages 17753-17758, September.
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