This is an open draft. Any editor is welcome to contribute to it. This draft is intended to create a primary topic article to replace the current disambiguation page at this title.

Exclusivity, in social and economic usage, is the characteristic of a thing being limited to only a select group of people, or to a single person. Assertions of exclusivity are commonly used in marketing to suggest to potential buyers of a product of service that they are receiving something of superior value based on the inability of other people to acquire the same thing. In business relationships, exclusivity may be used to indicate a contractual obligation between parties not to do certain kinds of business with others. In some cases, exclusive business agreements may be enforceable, while in others they may run afoul of the law. In personal relationships, exclusivity is used to indicate that the affections of the parties to the relationship, and often their sexual activities, will be restricted to one another.

In romantic relationships, exclusivity is used to indicate that the affections of the parties to the relationship, and often their sexual activities, will be restricted to one another. Exclusivity can be characterized as "a shutting out of others".^[1] and is considered "a natural element in intimate relations", with a tendency for sexual exclusivity "to be valued in monogamous sexual relationships".^[1] Exclusivity stemming from intimate relationships can become "destructive to one's ability to have relationships" if it descends into characteristics like intense jealousy and "a rivalrous orientation toward anyone who shows an interest in one's loved one".^[1]

Exclusivity may be extended to the overestimation of one's family, religious group, and national group. Exclusivity may be expressed in various forms of prejudice including sexism, racism, and ethnocentrism. As the result of a belief about one's superiority, individuals become unwilling to seek out new people or new experiences. Exclusivity may limit one's willingness to entertain new ideas. In order to preserve the belief in the value of one's exclusive world, one has to distort reality, limit access to new information, and restrict movement in the social environment. Thus, exclusivity becomes a substantial impediment to coping.^[1]

"If we insist on permanence, exclusivity may be harder to enforce; if we insist on exclusivity, we may be endangering permanence".^[2]

In commercial relationships, exclusivity generally means that a buyer agrees to only buy goods from a particular seller, or that a seller agrees only to sell goods to a particular buyer. In the licensing of intellectual property, in particular, exclusivity indicates that only one party will be able to license the intellectual property at issue.

Exclusivity may be (1) implicit (i.e., unadvertised, as is often the case with luxury goods), (2) explicit (i.e., advertised), or (3) both implicit and explicit (e.g., certain products that are regionally exclusive). Subdivisions (e.g., timed exclusivity, regional exclusivity, etc.) within these broad categories also further delineate the forms of exclusivity. Particular emphasis is given to the current trend of exclusively labeled, but low-priced products as these types of products have seldom been discussed in the literature due to their relatively recent rise as a common retailing strategy.^[3]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission notes that "exclusive dealing or requirements contracts between manufacturers and retailers are common and are generally lawful", explaining that "an exclusive dealing contract prevents a distributor from selling the products of a different manufacturer, and a requirements contract prevents a manufacturer from buying inputs from a different supplier".^[4]

Religious exclusivism or exclusivity is the doctrine or belief that only one particular religion or belief system is true.^[5]

This open draft remains in progress as of March 20, 2026.