For me, there is an additional layer to this. There's actual exclusivity and implied exclusivity. The first one is where you actively discuss it after a few dates, usually a few weeks, and everyone is free to do what they want until then. This has usually been my experience with westerners and some modern Asians. Then there's implied exclusivity, when I've hit it off with more traditional Asians and similar westerners after 1-2 dates, and while we don't discuss anything officially - it's just kind of implied that we're not making an effort to meet others for a bit. Not sure how to explain it but it's just understood that way. It doesn't mean anything is serious at all yet, or we're close to committing, it just means - okay lets see how this goes. There's no official rule, and if they do meet other people, nothing ethically wrong with it. If that happens, you shrug and move on. But for the most part, I do believe both sides have usually kept the implied exclusivity going until we decide one way or another on where things are going - then you make the exclusivity "official".

I would say the former is more fun, sure. You never feel the pressure to commit and you can keep meeting more people and keep your options open. I can totally see the charm of that for a lot of people, especially if you have the energy and skills (or you're a girl) to keep it going. But it's pretty obvious the latter is going to be a more successful strategy if you're really looking to date seriously

I should say btw that I'm well into my 30s so the length of my dating life is probably a lot longer than most here, hence what might seem like a high sample size.