Understanding Profiles

This article explains the concept of a "Profile" within a target group, detailing how it defines your survey's intended audience, the structure of profile data, and how to manage the dynamic nature of Cint's Profile Library.

What is a Profile?

Every target group on the Cint Exchange includes a Profile. This profile is the central component for precisely defining the intended audience for your survey. It enables you to specify the demographic, behavioral, and other characteristics of the respondents you need to reach.

For instance, imagine you are conducting a survey and require respondents aged between 25 and 40. You would utilize the 'Age' question from Cint's extensive Profile Library. Within the profile, you would then define the desired age range (25-40) as your condition, thereby targeting only respondents who meet this specific criterion.

Structure of Profile Data in a Draft target group

When you create or update a Draft target group, its profile is specified as an array of objects. Each object within this array represents a specific profile question and how its answers define your target audience.

A typical profile entry is associated with:

1. A specific question: Identified by a unique question_id from the Cint Profile Library.
2. Conditions (Allowed Answers): These are the specific answer options or input ranges that qualify a respondent for your survey. For instance, for a "household pets" question, the conditions might specify "cats" and "dogs."

• A question can have various answer options, including pre-defined selections or raw/range inputs (e.g., age ranges). When these are used to create a Profile, they are referred to as conditions.

3. Quotas: These further group and cap the allowed answers, specifying the desired number or percentage of respondents for each segment. Quotas can define an allowable cap (maximum completes for a segment) and a filling_goal (used by Cint's Fielding Assistant for optimization).

Example Profile Segment:

Imagine a profile segment for a "Household Pets" question:

• Question ID: [PetsInHousehold_QuestionID]
• Conditions:
• Option: "Cat"
• Option: "Dog"
• Quotas:
• 50% of completes should own "Cats".
• 50% of completes should own "Dogs".

The below code example shows the array within the Draft target group body for the above Pets example:

{
"name": "My Pet Owners target group",
"business_unit_id": "<YOUR_BUSINESS_UNIT_ID>",
"project_manager_id": "<YOUR_PROJECT_MANAGER_ID>",
"study_type_code": "adhoc",
"industry_code": "other",
"cost_per_interview": {
"value": "2.7352",
"currency_code": "USD"
},
"locale": "eng_us",
"collects_pii": false,
"filling_goal": 100,
"expected_length_of_interview_minutes": 5,
"expected_incidence_rate": 0.20,
"fielding_specification": {
"start_at": "2025-07-15T08:00:00.000Z",
"end_at": "2025-07-22T23:59:59.000Z"
},
"live_url": "https://mytestsurvey.com/?RID=[%RID%]",
"test_url": "https://mytestsurvey.com/?RID=[%RID%]",
"fielding_assistant_assignment": {
"pricing": {
"type": "dynamic",
"maximum_cpi": {
"value": "3.00",
"currency_code": "USD"
}
},
"quota_overlay": {
"prevent_overfill": true,
"balance_fill": false
}
},
"profile": {
"profile_adjustment_type": "percentage",
"drafts": [
{ "question_id": "<YOUR_PETS_IN_HOUSEHOLD_QUESTION_ID>",
 "quotas_enabled": true,
"conditions": {
"object": "selection_conditions_details_template",
"data": [
{ "option": "cat_option_id", "text": "Cat" },
{ "option": "dog_option_id", "text": "Dog" }
]
},
"quotas":
{ "ungrouped": [
{ "index": 0,
"quota_percentage": 50,
"quota_nominal": 50
},
{
"index": 1,
"quota_percentage": 50,
"quota_nominal": 50
}
],
"grouped": []
}
}
],
"interlocked_profiles": []
},
"exclusion": {
"enabled": false,
"list": []
}
}

The Dynamic Cint Profile Library

Cint maintains a dynamic and extensive Profile Library containing a wide array of questions and answer options across various locales. This library is continuously updated to align with industry standards, evolving customer needs, and changes in available respondent demographics.

• Locale-Specific Differences: It's important to note that questions and their answer options may differ across various locales (countries/languages) due to cultural relevance and data availability.
• API Access: Several API endpoints are available to programmatically list questions and answer options relevant to each locale.

Managing Profile Library Updates

Cint regularly adds, updates, and occasionally deprecates questions and answer options within the Profile Library. All significant changes are communicated through quarterly Profile Library updates newsletters, which include detailed descriptions and roll-out dates.

Recommendation for Integrators:

To minimize development and maintenance overhead, we highly recommend that customers adopt and directly integrate with the Cint Profile Library within their own systems.

Benefits of Direct Integration:

• One-to-One Mapping: Directly integrating Cint's Profile Library ensures a seamless, one-to-one mapping with your targeting criteria.
• Reduced Maintenance: Cint handles the ongoing review and update of the Profile Library, removing the burden from your team. This means you won't need to regularly audit and update your own internal mapping.
• Streamlined Development: Eliminates the need for complex internal mapping logic, thereby reducing development time and ongoing maintenance efforts.
• Access to Latest Targeting: Ensures your integrations always leverage the most current and comprehensive targeting options available on the Cint Exchange.