When life shapes marketing: a conceptual framework linking chief marketing officers’ private life events to marketing performance

While prior research has examined how CEOs’ private life events shape organizational outcomes, the impact of Chief Marketing Officers’ (CMOs’) personal experiences on marketing performance remains underexplored. This study introduces the S.I.G.N. framework, which categorizes in-role CMO life events into four clusters: Stress & Crisis, Identity & Adaptation, Growth & Legacy, and Norms & Stability. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and identity theory, we develop propositions that link each category to specific marketing capability outcomes. Expert panel validation supports the proposed categorizations and capability linkages. The framework highlights how life events reshape CMOs’ cognitive focus, emotional energy, and identity salience, thereby influencing decisions in marketing planning, product development, marketing communications, and channel management. We also outline methodological approaches, contingencies and process pathways, data sources, and ethical considerations for empirical testing. This study offers a role-specific theoretical foundation for understanding how CMOs’ private experiences shape marketing performance.