Steady ad spending during recessions results in higher sales. McGraw-Hill Research proved this conclusively, in their published study of advertising in the 1981-82 recession. For the six year period from 1980 to 1985, those companies that did not reduce advertising spending during the two recession years collectively increased sales by between 16 percent and 80 percent.*
More important, gains made during the recession were permanent and expanded during the three years following the recession. Those same companies that kept up their advertising during the recession enjoyed sales increases of 275% during the three years following the recession, compared to 19% for those companies that had reduced ad spending during the recession.**
* "Advertising during a recession," Direct Marketing. September 9, 1991
** Julie Olson, Daily Journal of Commerce. June 3, 2008
