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Need to target lifestyle, professional, technology, or product attributes — languages, employment, devices, software used, and more? See Advanced targeting attributes.

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Determining how many participants to target

targetNumberOfParticipants sets how many participants a researcher plans to interview. Respondent attempts to deliver 3× targetNumberOfParticipants qualified applicants; once that target is reached, recruitment is paused and new applicants are no longer sourced — though participants with your direct invite link can still apply. We also do not restrict inviting or paying more participants if a researcher’s needs grow during the course of research.

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Audience features

Audience features have 2 different implementations to ensure projects can be filled appropriately. Some features are used as filters while others are used as signals. Most features are available to both B2C and B2B projects — see B2C-only and B2B-only features for the exceptions. Filters Filter-type audience features restrict who can apply — a participant can only apply if their profile matches the selected feature. Filters give you the most accurate, on-target sample, so reach for a filter whenever a criterion genuinely needs to be met. Signals Signal-type audience features influence which participants Respondent contacts via a fuzzy match, but do not stop off-target participants from applying. Exact-match participants are still the first we contact, before recruiting expands to fuzzier matches over time until your project is filled. Promote a signal to a hard filter by adding its key to your project’s keyQualifiers. The one exception is targetJobTitles, which is handled differently from both filters and signals — see Job title targeting.
We strongly recommend making an attribute a hard filter whenever it genuinely needs to be met — add its key to keyQualifiers. Leave it as a signal only when you want a soft preference and broader reach.
The table below covers every audience feature and whether it acts as a filter or a signal by default. The Personal through Shopping groups are advanced attributes set via the advancedTargeting object, shown in the same groups as the researcher dashboard — see Advanced targeting attributes for the allowed values on each.
FeatureFilterSignal
Standard audience
targetCountries✅
targetCities (used with countries only)✅
targetLocationRespondentInPerson (in person project only)✅
targetGenders✅
targetAgeGroups✅
targetEthnicities✅
filterPastParticipation✅
targetEducation✅
targetHouseholdIncome✅
targetProjectTopics✅
targetProfessionalIndustries✅
targetCompanySize✅
seniority✅
targetJobFunctions✅
targetJobTitles (special — see Job title targeting)
targetAudienceSkills✅
Personal
relationshipStatus✅
languages✅
numberOfChildren✅
numberOfChildrenLiveAtHome✅
childrenBirthYears✅
livingSituation✅
pets✅
homeOwner✅
nationality✅
areaType✅
Professional
militaryServiceStatus✅
workSetting✅
employmentStatuses✅
cloudPlatforms✅
codingAITools✅
designPrototypingTools✅
productivitySoftware✅
Technology & Devices
browsers✅
computerOS✅
programmingLanguages✅
tabletOS✅
smartphoneOS✅
webcam✅
mobilePhoneWithInternet✅
headsetWithMicrophone✅
Products & Services
streamingServices✅
foodDeliveryServices✅
onlineBankingTools✅
onlineLearningPlatforms✅
onlineMarketplacePlatforms✅
onlineTravelBooking✅
smartHomeDevices✅
socialNetworkPlatforms✅
vehicleBrands✅
Health
healthWellnessApps✅
Shopping
onlineShoppingFrequency✅

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Job title targeting

targetJobTitles differs from other attributes because job title data is often ambiguous, leading to variations and differing interpretations across companies. A strict filter may disqualify many qualified participants, while a pure signal could allow too many off-target applicants. Because of this special handling:
  • targetJobTitles is not promotable through keyQualifiers — there is no way to restrict it to only the exact titles you provided. If you need to narrow further, use a screener question to confirm role specifics.
  • To restrict by broader role category instead of by title, use targetJobFunctions (a hard filter) or seniority (a hard filter).
  • Listing more representative titles helps Respondent infer the right job family. If the titles you list span multiple families, participants from any of those families may match.

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B2C-only and B2B-only features

Most audience features — including every advancedTargeting attribute — are available to both B2C and B2B projects. Only these are specific to one audience: B2C only
  • targetProjectTopics — required for B2C
B2B only
  • targetProfessionalIndustries — required for B2B
  • targetCompanySize
  • seniority
  • targetJobFunctions
  • targetJobTitles
  • targetAudienceSkills

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Filter past participants

The filterPastParticipation field allows you to control whether participants who have previously participated in your research can apply to new projects. This is a filter-type audience feature that restricts participant access based on their participation history.

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How it works

When filterPastParticipation is set, the system checks if a participant has previously been paid for research conducted by the same organisation or based on the externalResearcher object for API.

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Using filterPastParticipation via API

Include the filterPastParticipation field in your project creation request: 
{
  "publicTitle": "New Product Feedback Study",
  "targetMarketType": "b2c",
  "filterPastParticipation": {
    "hasNeverParticipated": true,
    "months": "3"}
  "externalResearcher": {
    "researcherId": "researcher_123",
    "teamId": "team_456",
    "companyId": "company_789"
  },
  // ... other project fields
}

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Using filterPastParticipation on the DIY platform

When creating a project through the Respondent platform:
  1. Navigate to the project creation flow
  2. In the Audience Targeting section, locate the Past Participation filter
  3. Select your preference:
    • Has never participated in a project - Only new participants can apply
    • Has never participated in a project in the last X months - Only new participants can apply within X months
    • N/A - No restriction
Past participation is tracked at the payment level. A participant is only considered a “past participant” if they were marked as attended and paid for a previous project associated with the organisation.

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Working with your participant database

If your organisation has the participant database feature enabled, you can also:

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Audience qualification

Screener responses are qualified across the participant’s profile and their actual responses to screener questions to be determined qualified or not. Answering all screener questions with qualifying answers makes them qualified on a screener, but profile qualification can be achieve by matching all filter type audiences features. Respondent will treat participants that match all audience features with preferential treatment when actively recruiting, but will qualify participants that are not direct matches for signal type audience features. Example If a participants qualified via the screener AND they match selected targetAgeGroups and targetCountries but not targetHouseholdIncome, their response will be considered qualified by default. Partners or researchers can choose to disqualify these responses to narrow the number of participants and keep recruiting open.
Last modified on June 26, 2026