The research investigated whether economic context and prior financial reinforcement/punishment moderate the effectiveness of marketing behaviour in generating gains for the firm. An experiment with a longitudinal design was conducted using 1759 companies from 2000 to 2017. The results demonstrate that marketing is effective in gaining market share when the country’s economy is growing. In contrast, it increases return on assets and Tobin’s Q when the country’s economy is in recession, this increase being maximised when the company was financially reinforced. The study helps explain the circumstances in which marketing activities boost firms’ financial gains.