Conducted by Black and White Public Relations, the survey says that 45% of companies believe that business investment will rise following the end of the war, and 59% were either fairly or very optimistic that sales would grow over the next six months.
Of all the marketing disciplines, PR looks set to be the winner, with 65% of the companies surveyed saying they planned to spend more in that area. Only 18% said they planned to spend more on advertising, while 7% said they would spend more on their company's website.
The survey was conducted just before US soldiers captured Baghdad, and questioned senior managers responsible for marketing spend.
Paul Gray, director of Black and White PR, said: "The figures show businesses are optimistic about the war and bullish about sales growth, business investment and marketing budgets. Although the survey took place just before the liberation of Baghdad, it was already clear that businesses were expecting a post-war bounce."
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