Research does show that companies who advertise, even during a recession, perform better in the long run.
A McGraw-Hill study found that during the economic downturn from 1980 to 1985, firms that advertised aggressively had sales that were 256 percent higher than companies that cut back. Another study in 2001 showed aggressive advertisers increased their market share 2.5 times the average for all business in post-recession.
Conversely it has been shown during times of economic growth 80 percent of business increased their advertising spend with no improvement because all their competition did the same thing.
In times like these, most of your competitors are sitting on their hands. I f you are looking to gain market share, now is the time to be brave. All evidence leads to a stronger economy in the next few months.