Abstract: This paper aims to help companies to develop the effective strategies about repairing brand image and brand relationship. Our theoretical framework was based upon the premise that with the extension of temporal distance, the evaluation for brand’s failure was gradually enhanced, but self-pertinence would undermine this effect. In experiment one, 3(temporal distance: last week, two years ago and four years ago) × 2(types of brand's failure: one is about functional defects, the other is about harming health) between subjects experimental design was conducted. It revealed that the main effect of temporal distance and types of brand's failure were significant, f(2, 174)= 12.299, p< .001, η2= .124, f(1, 174)=60.074, p< .001, η2= .257, the interaction between temporal distance and types of brand's failure was significant, f(2, 174)= 9.649, p< .001, η2= .100. in scenarios of brand's failure which is about functional defects, the main effect of temporal distance were significant, f(2, 87)= 18.894, p< .001, η2= .303, specifically, participants in the level of “four years ago” reported a significantly higher evaluation than that in the level of “four years ago”, t(1, 58)= 2.955, similarly, in the level of “four years ago” higher evaluation than that in the level of “last week”, t(1, 58)= 3.354, p< .001, the results revealed that with the extension of temporal distance, the evaluation for brand’s failure which is about functional defects was gradually enhanced; however in scenarios of brand's failure which is about harming to health, the main effect of temporal distance were not significant. In experiment two, 3(temporal distance: last week, two years ago and four years ago) × 2(self-pertinence：low, high) between subjects experimental design was conducted. It revealed that the main effect of temporal distance and self-pertinence were significant, f(2, 156)= 12.979, p< .001, η2= .143, f(1, 156)=69.210, p< .001, η2= .307, the interaction between temporal distance and self-pertinence was significant, f(2, 156)= 10.571, p< .001, η2= .119. in the low level of self-pertinence, the main effect of temporal distance were significant, f(2, 78)= 18.495, p< .001, η2= .322, specifically, participants in the level of “two years ago” reported a significantly higher evaluation than that in the level of “last week”, t(1, 52)= 3.252, p< .001, similarly, in the level of “four years ago” we found higher evaluation than that in the level of “two years ago”, t(1, 52)= 3.252, p< .001, the results revealed that with the extension of temporal distance, the evaluation for brand’s failure which was gradually enhanced in the low level of self-pertinence; however, in the high level of self-pertinence, the main effect of temporal distance were not significant. Conclusion: when the brand's failure is about harming health, consumers' evaluation were not influenced by temporal distance; the evaluation for brand’s failure which is about functional defects was gradually enhanced with the extension of temporal distance, but only in low level of self-pertinence. So we came to the conclusions that consumers’ evaluation for brand’s failure had ego defense mechanism.

Key words: brand’s failure, temporal distance, self-pertinence, harm avoidance

摘要： 通过研究品牌犯错的时间打折效应，本文试图探讨潜在消费者（未购买者）对犯错品牌评价的心理倾向。实验1研究发现，随着品牌犯错事件时间距离的延伸，消费者对身体性危害-品牌犯错的评价不会改善，即没有出现时间打折效应，而对功能性危害-品牌犯错的评价则逐渐提高，从而表现出时间打折效应。但实验2研究进一步发现，随着品牌犯错事件相关性的增强，功能性危害-品牌犯错的时间打折效应也消失。结论：潜在消费者对犯错品牌评价的心理倾向表现为“消费者防御”，并且身体性危害-品牌犯错启动的消费者防御要强于功能性危害。

关键词: 品牌犯错 时间距离 个体相关性 避免伤害