This paper explores how exposure to interparental conflict (IPC) during one's childhood impacts online buyer behavior later in adulthood. We show that people who report having witnessed higher (vs. lower) levels of IPC as children evaluate products less favorably when they are associated with product reviews exhibiting a higher (vs. lower) dispersion of opinion. This result is driven by a desire to avoid conflict. The research deepens the understanding consumer responses to review dispersion by identifying a novel psychological factor. It also contributes to the developmental psychology and socialization literatures by documenting the long-lasting impact of early childhood family communication processes on adult consumer behavior. Future research avenues are discussed.

本文探讨了在童年时期接触父母间冲突 (IPC) 如何影响成年后的在线购买者行为。我们表明，那些报告在儿童时期目睹过较高（相对较低）IPC 水平的人在与表现出较高（相对较低）意见分散度的产品评论相关联时，对产品的评价较差。这一结果是由避免冲突的愿望驱动的。该研究通过确定一种新的心理因素，加深了对消费者对评论分散的反应的理解。它还通过记录幼儿家庭沟通过程对成人消费者行为的长期影响，为发展心理学和社会化文献做出贡献。讨论了未来的研究途径。