Audience feasibility helps you understand how realistic your targeting is before launching a survey. The audiences and filters you select determine how quickly your survey fills, how representative your data is, and which demographics will be available in analysis.

Checking feasibility early helps avoid slow fill times or incomplete samples.

How audience feasibility works

Attest connects to multiple panels and sample sources globally, giving access to a large pool of potential respondents.

The number of respondents you can reach for a specific survey depends on:

the country you are surveying in
the demographic filters you apply
any quotas you set
whether qualifying questions are used

The available sample shown in Attest reflects respondents who have been active recently and match your current criteria. This number updates dynamically as you adjust your audience settings.

Checking feasibility in the Audience page

You can check feasibility directly in the Audience page while building your survey.

After selecting:

a country and language, and
any demographic filters

you will see the available sample size for that audience. This indicates how many respondents currently meet your criteria.

If you do not customise your audience, the survey will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Any demographic data shown in results in this case is only included where available and should not be relied on unless explicitly selected during setup.

Attest’s audience reach and available sample size

Attest connects to dozens of panels and sample sources globally, providing access to an estimated 100 million respondents in total.

The number of respondents you can reach for a specific survey is always much smaller than the total network size, and depends on:

the country and language selected
demographic filters
quotas and qualifying questions
recent respondent activity

The available sample shown on the Audience page reflects respondents who match your current setup and have been active recently. This number updates dynamically as you change your targeting.

How demographics affect feasibility

Each demographic filter you add reduces the available audience.

For example:

a broad audience may include hundreds of thousands of respondents
adding age, location, or employment filters reduces that pool
combining multiple filters can quickly make an audience very small

In some cases, filters can become conflicting or too narrow, making the audience difficult or impossible to reach within a reasonable timeframe.

As a general rule, only apply demographic filters that are essential to your research goals.

The impact of quotas

Quotas help control the distribution of respondents within a demographic, such as ensuring a specific gender split.

However, quotas are strict requirements. Once a quota is filled, respondents who match other criteria but not the remaining quota are excluded. This can significantly slow down fill times, especially when multiple quotas are combined.

Using many quotas together increases the risk that:

the survey takes longer to complete
the available audience becomes too small

Quotas should be used deliberately, particularly for research that requires representativeness or consistency over time.

Feasibility and fill time

Feasibility affects not just whether a survey will fill, but how long it will take.

A low available sample means:

the survey may take longer to complete
respondents may be harder to find at certain times

The feasibility number shown in the Audience page reflects recent activity and may fluctuate. If you are unsure whether your targeting is realistic, it’s worth reviewing your filters and quotas before launching.

FAQ

How big is Attest’s overall audience?

Attest connects to dozens of panels and other sample sources globally, giving access to an estimated 100 million respondents in total.

The number of respondents you can reach for a specific survey depends on the country you are surveying in and the demographic filters you apply. As filters are added, the attainable audience size reduces accordingly, which is why feasibility should always be checked during audience setup rather than inferred from the total network size.

When will my audience be too constrained?

An audience is likely to cause slow fill times when it is highly constrained, this usually happens when:

multiple demographic filters are combined
several quotas are applied at the same time
qualifying questions screen out a large proportion of respondents
filters describe a very specific or uncommon group

Even if the available sample number looks reasonable, the survey can still fill slowly if respondents must meet many conditions simultaneously or are screened out during the survey.

If fill speed is an issue, consider:

removing non-essential demographic filters
reducing the number of quotas
simplifying or relaxing qualifying criteria
widening ranges (for example, age bands or locations)

Will qualifying questions affect feasibility?

Yes. Qualifying questions further reduce the number of respondents who complete the survey. While the system accounts for their presence, the exact impact depends on how strict the criteria are.

Why don’t I see some demographics in my results?

Demographics only appear reliably in results if they were selected during audience setup. If you need a demographic for analysis, make sure it is included when building the survey.