Transformation of marketing research tools in the context of digitalization

To solve the problems of effective current and strategic planning, making managerial decisions, each company in modern conditions must have a well-built marketing information system, which is a system of measures for searching, storing and analyzing marketing information. The main role in building such a system belongs to marketing research. Despite the difficult economic situation, the volume of the Uzbek marketing research market shows stable growth, over the period from 2013 to 2021 it grew by 88% (from 8.2 billion soums to 15.9 billion soums) [1]. Today, the management of most enterprises applies modern tools and methods of marketing research in practice, since in the conditions of the active development of the digital economy, they are more promising than traditional ones. Competitive analysis of marketing services in the global network suggests that the sale of products through digital channels is in a more advantageous position [2]. In this connection, the analysis of modern tools and methods used by enterprises in the framework of marketing research becomes very relevant.

Marketing research includes the search, collection, processing and analysis of data necessary for making managerial decisions [3]. They are aimed at forming a strategy for the development of an enterprise in the market, studying consumer behavior in order to develop an effective marketing mix. Marketing research reveals the opportunities and problems of the enterprise, serves as the basis for making strategic decisions and monitoring the effectiveness of the company's marketing activities.

As everyone knows, the main methods of marketing research include observation, experiment and survey [4]. Observation involves the study of the behavior of potential consumers in the process of making a decision to purchase a product, consumption of a service. Using this method, you can create a model for making decisions about making a purchase. The survey is one of the most popular research methods, the essence of which is the direct interaction of the researcher with the respondents. Conducting a survey allows you to find out the opinions of a particular group of people, to identify the characteristics of the behavior of potential consumers using a questionnaire. The method of Internet surveys is perhaps one of the most popular in conducting research on the global network [5]. Basically, surveys are conducted through user surveys.

An experiment in marketing is a method of collecting information that involves the direct intervention of the researcher in the processes he is studying. This method allows you to identify cause-and-effect relationships between events and establish control over all factors that affect the functioning of the objects under study. With the development of digital technologies and the emergence of a large number of different online platforms, the main methods of marketing research are being transformed and their transition to the digital environment. The most popular are web analytics tools, of which the most famous are Google Analytics and Yandex. Metrics. With the help of which you can collect detailed information about the company's website visitors, their preferences, geographic location, etc. There are also lesser-known tools, such as: IBM Watson Analytics (IBM Watson Analitics) - finds patterns in the data and displays the results in the form of various reports or Metabase (Metabase) - a solution designed not only for data analysis, but also for visualizing the results [6].

Currently, the process of conducting surveys using various instant messengers and social networks has become widespread due to their availability and popularity. The most common in the Uzbek market are social networks -

Telegram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram [7]. Respondents are encouraged by such traditional methods as payment of monetary or other material rewards for participating in the survey. Among the digital methods of marketing research, it is worth highlighting the conduct of online focus groups, which involves remote, in-depth interviews with respondents [8]. This method is effective in testing various types of goods/services and provides a high level of objectivity. In addition, significant methods of marketing research of the company are the study of forums, blogs and teleconferences, an important task of which is to study the opinions of leaders. Online focus groups are very popular these days. This form really has serious advantages over the traditional one, primarily because of the simpler organization. Through the Internet, it is easier to find the right category of people with a certain number of characteristics, in addition, it is easier to convene them - no one needs to gather in a certain place. In addition, the "online" form is only suitable when it comes to some intangible objects of research - a brand, logo, slogan, etc. Internet groups are almost useless when it comes to testing something - a product, packaging and other things where people need to “manually” test a product [9]. As part of the observation method, such a tool as the search and analysis of customer reviews in the Internet communication and information network has been widely developed. With the help of the results obtained, the optimization of product output, the improvement of the assortment and the process of customer service are carried out. It should be noted that with the development of modern technologies and the process of digitalization, which covers all spheres of life of modern society, an increasing number of enterprises are switching to the use of digital technologies, since due to the growth in the volume of data, it becomes impossible to analyze them manually. Creating conditions for the digital transformation of industry and the formation of a single digital space for industry is a priority area of cooperation for a number of states.

Based on the above, the following conclusions can be drawn: the transformation of marketing research tools is dictated by the peculiarities of the current stage of development of the digital economy, where an increasing number of enterprises go online; in view of the increase in the volume of information and the complexity of conducting market analysis, enterprises need to apply marketing research methods, taking into account the digitalization process; the most common digital channels of communication with respondents are social networks and instant messengers.