MasterCard recently announced it was cutting advertising and marketing expenditures by 35% in order to increase its operating profit. While goosing short-term returns might impress investment analysts, MasterCard’s management–and its shareholders–might reflect differently on the decision later.

In a recent article, Advertising Age pointed out that companies that cut their marketing spending during economic downturns not only lose market share to private label brands, they often never recover it.

When times get tough and wallets get thin, it’s natural for price-sensitive consumers to trade down to private label brands. But research conducted by Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp, a marketing professor at the University of North Carolina, shows that in recent downturns, advertisers that either maintained or increased their ad spending lost less market share (and also performed better in the stock market) than those that cut their spending. They also performed better during recoveries.

This is a great example of the loss of nerve principle at work. When growth stalls, the natural reaction is to pull in your horns, a fact Steenkamp recognizes. He says, “Companies and categories that are able to turn a recession into an advantage are [those] going against economic trends.” But his research–and mine–suggests that’s a temptation that should often be resisted.

“Ultimately, it takes courage,” Steenkamp says. “But it pays off in share and in terms of the stock market.” Are you listening, MasterCard?