The Role of Compensation, Cognitive Biases, and Data in the Decision-Making of Marketing Managers During Unsuccessful Campaigns.

This study investigates the decision-making processes of marketing managers when initiating, managing, or terminating failed marketing campaigns, emphasizing the influence of market data, compensation aspirations, personal motivations, and cognitive biases. Through qualitative interviews with marketing managers from multinational corporations, the research identifies four phases in unsuccessful campaigns: aspiration, recognition of failure, professional self-doubt, and recovery. Findings highlight that unrealistic financial reward expectations often overshadow objective market analysis, leading to significant psychological stress that affects managers' professional confidence and personal lives, including family dynamics. The study advocates for balanced decision-support tools integrating emotional intelligence with empirical data and recommends organizational practices that foster resilience, mental health support, and non-punitive responses to failure. These insights contribute to understanding the complex interplay of rational and emotional factors in marketing management and suggest broader applicability across high-pressure professional fields.