Company Profile

1. What experience does your company have in providing online samples for market Research? How long have you been providing this service? Do you also provide similar services for other uses such as direct marketing?If so, what proportion of your work is for market research?

MediaScience recruits, manages, and uses its own proprietary research panel for research services contracted by MediaScience clients. This panel is exclusively used by MediaScience and is not sold or shared with other parties. The MediaScience panel is solely used for market research purposes, which dates back to its origination in 2008.

2. Do you have staff with responsibility for developing and monitoring the performance of the sampling algorithms and related automated functions who also have knowledge and experience in this area? What sort of training in sampling techniques do you provide to your frontline staff?

Sampling is controlled by both automatic and manual processes. For a specific recruitment project, MediaScience’s in-house recruitment team identifies the criteria for that project. Basic demographic variables are input into MediaScience’s proprietary panel management software to identify the eligibility pool for that project. Once that pool is identified, eligible panel members are randomly selected from that pool (automatically by the software) and sent invitations for the study or for a more in-depth screening process. The panel management software and rules within it were designed in-house by MediaScience researchers and management who fully understand the importance of quality sampling and avoiding biases in the sampling process.

3. What other services do you offer? Do you cover sample-only, or do you offer a broad range of data collection and analysis services?

MediaScience is a full-service market research provider specializing in technology and innovation solutions for research. Research services include neuroscientific metrics (GSR, heart rate, EEG, etc.), eye tracking, facial response coding, response latency, dial testing, focus groups, and survey. MediaScience offers both in-person and in-home/online research methods.

Common research topics include:

MediaScience also offers an in-house development team which is often tasked with creating custom mock digital environments for Mobile, Desktop, CTV, and more. Research services can be turn-key, with MediaScience conducting every stage of the research process, including stimuli development/acquisition, recruitment, fieldwork, data prep/coding, analysis, and reporting – or can be a la carte so that MediaScience only rovides a portion of the necessary services (e.g., development work only).

Sample Sources and Recruitment

4. Using the broad classifications above, from what sources of online sample do you derive participants?

Mediascience recruits and manages a proprietary panel database potential participants who declare that they will cooperate for future data collection if selected, generally in exchange for a reward/incentive. This panel is comprised of panel members who have agreed to be a part of our research panel with the possibility of being selected for in-home and/or online research studies for which they will be compensated in the form of a gift card. We occasionally work with third party recruitment vendors and ensure they follow ESOMAR standards for data collection and panel privacy.

5. Which of these sources are proprietary or exclusive and what is the percent share of each in the total sample provided to a buyer?(Assume proprietary to mean that the sample provider owns the asset. Assume exclusive to mean that the sample provider has an exclusive agreement to manage/provide access to sample originally collected by another entity.)

MediaScience’s panel is proprietary. MediaScience has a close relationship with panel members and a deep knowledge of recruitment techniques used to acquire them.

6. What recruitment channels are you using for each of the sources you have described? Is the recruitment process ‘open to all’ or by invitation only? Are you using probabilistic methods? Are you using affiliate networks and referral programs and in what proportions? How does your use of these channels vary by geography?

Panel Recruitment: In order to guarantee a representative sample, MediaScience utilizes a variety of recruitment and contact methods. The general panel recruitment process is “open to all”, as popular panel recruitment strategies targeting the general public areutilized. However, membership in the panel does not guarantee an invitation to participate in research. General panel recruitment methods include:

Study Recruitment: Recruitment from the larger panel for specific projects is by invitation only so that specific criteria are controlled for and met first, before an invitation is sent. Once a panel member is identified as being eligible (either for the study or for a more in-depth screener), they are contacted via email, phone call, or text message. Individual panel members are randomly selected from this potential eligibility pool and sent an invitation.

7. What form of validation do you use in recruitment to ensure that participants are real, unique, and are who they say they are? Describe this both in terms of the practical steps you take within your own organisation and the technologies you are using. Please try to be as specific and quantify as much as you can.

A variety of methods are utilized to ensure that participants are real, unique, and who they say they are. Such methods include:

8. What brand (domain) and/or app are you using with proprietary sources? Summarise, by source, the proportion of sample accessing surveys by mobile app, email or other specified means. For online research, panel members are invited to participate in research via the device specified for the study at hand. This can include Mobile, Desktop, or CTV devices. The means of accessing the study varies by platform.

9. Which model(s) do you offer to deliver sample? Managed service, self-serve, or API integration?

MediaScience currently offers a managed service model to deliver sample. Only MediaScience contacts its panel members and their contact information is not shared with third parties.

10. If offering intercepts, or providing access to more than one source, what level of transparency do you offer over the composition of your sample (sample sources, sample providers included in the blend). Do you let buyers control which sources of sample to include in their projects, and if so how? Do you have any integration mechanisms with third-party sources offered?

MediaScience only offers a proprietary panel at this time and does not offer intercepts.

11. Of the sample sources you have available, how would you describe the suitability of each for different research applications? For example, Is there sample suitable for product testing or other recruit/recall situations where the buyer may need to go back again to the same sample?Is the sample suitable for shorter or longer questionnaires? For mobile-only or desktop-only questionnaires?Is it suitable to recruit for communities? For online focus groups?

MediaScience conducts a variety of different types of research projects which often require very specific types of samples, as well as requiring different tasks of its panel members. MediaScience has sample within the panel which are potentially suitable for a variety of research applications such as:

Sampling & Project Management

12. Briefly describe your overall process from invitation to survey completion. What steps do you take to achieve a sample that “looks like” the target population? What demographic quota controls, if any, do you recommend?

MediaScience can conduct all stages of the research process from invitation to competition and incentives. This process is controlled in part by MediaScience’s proprietary panel management software, as well as by MediaScience’s panel management staff. Such steps may typically include:

13. What profiling information do you hold on at least 80% of your panel members plus any intercepts known to you through prior contact? How does this differ by the sources you offer? How often is each of those data points updated? Can you supply these data points as appends to the data set? Do you collect this profiling information directly or is it supplied by a third party?

All members in MediaScience’s proprietary panel provide basic contact and demographic information when they register for the panel. They are also given the opportunity to update this information via an online profile portal. At a minimum, this information for each panel member includes:

This information is collected directly by MediaScience and is not obtained from third parties. Such data can be appended to any given data set for a study. By keeping this information on hand, recruitment processes can move quickly when a new project launches, since common basic demographic information is already accessible when creating a preliminary eligibility pool.

14. What information do you need about a project in order to provide an estimate of feasibility? What, if anything, do you do to give upper or lower boundaries around these estimates?

MediaScience typically needs the following information in order to provide an estimate of feasibility for a project:

Other criteria necessary (such as media use, lifestyle information, etc. which might require use of a pre-screener survey)

15. What do you do if the project proves impossible for you to complete in field? Do you inform the sample buyer as to who you would use to complete the project?In such circumstances,how do you maintain and certify third party sources/sub-contractors?

With proper planning and feasibility estimates, MediaScience can predict whether a sample will be too difficult to recruit from its proprietary panel. MediaScience will discuss this with the client so that the client can collaborate and help derive a plan for identifying the required sample – whether through the client’s own resources/panel, preferred providers, etc.

16. Do you employ a survey router or any yield management techniques?If yes, please describe how you go about allocating participants to surveys. How are potential participants asked to participate in a study? Please specify how this is done for each of the
sources you offer.

MediaScience does not currently utilize a survey router. Only members of MediaScience’s proprietary panel are invited to participate in a study or survey. A criteria set based on gender, age, income (and other common demographic variables) is identified and quotas are decided (if applicable). This information is utilized in MediaScience’s proprietary panel management software to identify the portion of the panel that meet such criteria and create an eligibility pool.

Often times, demographic information is asked at the end of the survey as well to ensure that accurate information in the panel member’s panel profile is consistent.Quotas can be calculated from this information, in addition to panel member profile information provided to MediaScience.

17. Do you set limits on the amount of time a participant can be in the router before they qualify for a survey?

MediaScience does not utilize a survey router.

18. What information about a project is given to potential participants before they choose whether to take the survey or not? How does this differ by the sources you offer?

When MediaScience contacts its proprietary panel members who are identified as being eligible to participate, general information about what is required of the panel member and what they will be compensated is provided. For instance, a panel member may be told that they will be asked to browse a popular social media feed for 15 minutes and take a related survey about their experience which could last 10-15 minutes, with a total experience of 25-30 minutes expected. If a smartphone is required, this information would also be stated, and the amount of compensation that the study would pay is included. It is possible that the amount of compensation influences the response rate, or respondent type, but this is attempted to be mitigated by inviting smaller randomly selected pools of eligible participants at a time.

19. Do you allow participants to choose a survey from a selection of available surveys?If so, what are they told about each survey that helps them to make that choice?

MediaScience panel members are only invited to a single study at a time, and are never given the option to choose between two different studies. This would introduce potential bias in the sample, especially if the amount of compensation or required tasks differ by study.

20. What ability do you have to increase (or decrease) incentives being offered to potential participants (or sub-groups of participants) during the course of a survey?If so, can this be flagged at the participant level in the dataset?

MediaScience has the ability to increase or decrease incentives being offered to potential participants (or sub-groups) during the course of a survey/study. This sometimes occurs if the criteria set proves to be more challenging than expected, a deadline is approaching more quickly than expected, or the duration of the session is longer than expected. This change in compensation is tracked at the participant level and can be flagged as a variable in the final dataset so that this can be treated as potential confounding variable if needed.

21. Do you measure participant satisfaction at the individual project level?If so, can you provide normative data for similar projects (by length, by type, by subject, by target group)?

MediaScience includes survey questions for both in-person and online studies to ensure that the participants did not experience issues during their interaction.

22. Do you provide a debrief report about a project after it has completed?If yes, can you provide an example?

MediaScience can provide reports of various nature for a given project. If the project is full-service, MediaScience provides a full report with analysis details, results, key insights, and more. If MediaScience provides only a portion of a project, such as recruitment and fieldwork, a report can be designed to fit the needs of the client and can include sample information such as demographics or other details requested by the client. MediaScience can also provide participant-level data in the format requested by the client.

Data Quality & Validation

23. How often can the same individual participate in a survey? How does this vary across your sample sources? What is the mean and maximum amount of time a person may have already been taking surveys before they entered this survey? How do you manage this?

MediaScience can deploy a variety of methods to control data quality, participation frequency, response timing, and more. Many of these variables vary by study and can be customized to the client’s needs and specifications. Common procedures include:

24. What data do you maintain on individual participants such as recent participation history, date(s) of entry, source/channel, etc? Are you able to supply buyers with a project analysis of such individual level data? Are you able to append such data points to your participant records?

MediaScience tracks a variety of information about each individual panel member in its proprietary panel utilizing proprietary panel management software. This software tracks the following information (as well as other data), which can be appended to participant records for a given study if desired.

25. Please describe your procedures for confirmation of participant identity at the project level. Please describe these procedures as they are implemented at the point of entry to a survey or router.

MediaScience understands the risk of fraud in online research and does what it can to mitigate such risks, even though it is nearly impossible to completely control all risks.

Procedures are in place at the project level to help reduce the risk of fraud. For online research, post-exposure surveys with the same IP addresses are flagged as potential duplicates in our data cleaning stages. The corresponding panel member IDs for duplicated IP addresses are traced back to be reviewed to ensure that unique information is provided at all stages of contact with the potential duplicate panel members. If there is suspicion that the data are being provided by the same person (rather than two individuals in the same household, for instance), that data is discarded. Each panel member ID is unique to an individual and panel members understand and agree that providing false information disqualifies them from future participation in the panel. MediaScience has a zero tolerance policy for false information provided by panel members.

Additionally, if demographic data provided at the survey level are different from panel member profile information, this can be investigated and may warrant discarding of that survey respondent’s data, as well as disqualification from the panel.

26. How do you manage source consistency and blend at the project level? With regard to trackers, how do you ensure that the nature and composition of sample sources remain the same over time? Do you have reports on blends and sources that can be provided to buyers? Can source be appended to the participant data records?

MediaScience sources its survey participants from its proprietary research panel (i.e., a single source). If a secondary participant source is provided or approved by a client, data from each source can be statistically analyzed and compared to reveal potential differences in sample quality or results. In instances such as these, source of the participant can be appended to the survey data set.

27. Please describe your participant/member quality tracking, along with any health metrics you maintain on members/participants, and how those metrics are used to invite, track, quarantine, and block people from entering the platform, router, or a survey. What processes do you have in place to compare profiled and known data to in-survey responses?

MediaScience conducts annual panel quality audits to ensure that the panel is largely representative of the general population (e.g., USA panel demographics are compared to that of the US Adult Census).

Panel member participation history is tracked by MediaScience using its proprietary panel management software. This enables MediaScience to exclude participants who have participated in too many studies, who have participated too recently, and/or who have participants in projects which are too similar to a project at hand. These details can be specified by the client for a specific project, or can apply overall to all projects for a given client.

If demographic data provided at the survey level are different from panel member profile information, this can be investigated and may warrant discarding of that survey respondent’s data, as well as disqualification from the panel.

28. For work where you program, host, and deliver the survey data, what processes do you have in place to reduce or eliminate undesired in-survey behaviours, such as (a) random responding, (b) Illogical or inconsistent responding, (c) overuse of item nonresponse (e.g., “Don’t Know”) (d) inaccurate or inconsistent responding, (e) incomplete responding, or (f) too rapid survey completion?

MediaScience has a data preparation team responsible for reviewing the quality of survey data before it is approved for analysis. This includes:

Policies & Compliance

29. Please provide the link to your participant privacy notice (sometimes referred to as a privacy policy) as well as a summary of the key concepts it addresses. (Note: If your company uses different privacy notices for different products or services, please provide an example relevant to the products or services covered in your response to this question).

Link to Privacy Policy:
https://www.mediasciencepanel.com/privacy

Key concepts addressed by Privacy Policy:

30. How do you comply with key data protection laws and regulations that apply in the various jurisdictions in which you operate? How do you address requirements regarding consent or other legal bases for the processing personal data? How do you address requirements for data breach response, cross-border transfer, and data retention? Have you appointed a data protection officer?

MediaScience regularly reviews laws and regulations surrounding the data it collects and protection of such data, and responds by updating policies where relevant. Compliance with laws surrounding data privacy and protection is of grave importance to MediaScience’s practices.

All panel members provide informed consent when agreeing to join the panel, as well as for each individual study they participate in.
When dealing with cross-border transfer of data, all data are anonymized so that no personally identifiable information is linked to data being transferred across borders for data cleaning/analysis purposes.

Data retention is client and market specific and varies based on the requirements of each client, specific projects for that client, and the markets in which data were collected.

Data breaches are addressed using GDPR Article 34 as guidance. This includes informing those impacted and seeking to remedy as quickly as possible, proper documentation, and communication of the data breach if requirements are met.

31. How can participants provide, manage and revise consent for the processing of their personal data? What support channels do you provide for participants? In your response, please address the sample sources you wholly own, as well as those owned by other parties to whom you provide access.

MediaScience owns its proprietary research panel and does not share panel member personally identifiable information with third parties. Panel members can update their personal information and personal data preferences on their panel member profile page.

Additionally, they can email or call MediaScience offices to have any information and preferences changed within their profile. This also includes the option to have data removed from the panel.

For individual projects, panel members provide consent to the information being collected for that specific project. This is in addition to general consent for participation in the panel.

32. Consent for the collection and processing of personal data has long been required by market research industry codes. It is also explicitly required by some data protection laws and regulations. Some data protection laws and regulations, including EU-GDPR and CCPA as examples, also provide for access rights for participants to correct, update, or delete their data. Implementation of a participant support channel is also required by ISO 20252 (ISO 20252:2019: Market, Opinion and Social Research, Including Insights and Data Analytics – Vocabulary and Service Requirements).

Before any personal information is collected and stored from a new panel member, they are required to provide consent to the storage and use of that data by MediaScience. Panel members have the right to access, correct, update, and delete their data from the panel database.

33. What is your approach to collecting and processing the personal data of children and young people? Do you adhere to standards and guidelines provided by ESOMAR or GRBN member associations? How do you comply with applicable data protection laws and regulations?

MediaScience has a sub-panel in its proprietary panel database which consists of minors (under the age of 18 years). Only a legal parent or guardian can create this profile, which is only accessible through that adult parent/guardian’s profile. Any invitations for study participation for a minor are sent through the paired adult panel member contact information. Additionally, consent for a project involving a minor requires both consent of the minor and consent of the parent/legal guardian.

When a minor participates in MediaScience research, they are not asked to provide data that is subconscious or which can not be explicitly given. For example, MediaScience does not collect electroencephalography (EEG) data from minors.

34. Do you implement “data protection by design” (sometimes referred to as “privacy by design”) in your systems and processes? If so, please describe how.

MediaScience embeds data privacy features and data privacy enhancing technologies directly into the design of projects at an early stage, especially at the anel member profile level. This is done by anonymizing each panel member’s data as soon as they become a panel member. Each panel member is assigned a unique panel member ID, and that ID is used as the identifier for that individual’s data sets for any projects moving forward. This anonymizes all data sets that are shared with clients and prevents any personally identifiable information from being shared outside of MediaScience’s secure database.

35. What are the key elements of your information security compliance program? Please specify the framework(s) or auditing procedure(s) you comply with or certify to. Does your program include an asset-based risk assessment and internal audit process?

MediaScience is actively working towards ISO 27001 compliance.

36. Do you certify to or comply with a quality framework such as ISO 20252?

MediaScience is actively working towards ISO 20252 compliance.

Metrics

37. Which of the following are you able to provide to buyers, in aggregate and by country and source? Please include a link or attach a file of a sample report for each of the metrics you use.

01. Average qualifying or completion rate, trended by month
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month due to the differing nature of various projects (some in-person, some online, different recruitment criteria, etc.).

02. Percent of paid completes rejected per month/project, trended by month
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month due to the differing nature of various projects (some in-person, some online, different recruitment criteria, etc.).

03. Percent of members/accounts removed/quarantined, trended by month
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

04. Percent of paid completes from 0-3 months tenure, trended by month
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

05. Percent of paid completes from smartphones, trended by month
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month. This would vary depending on the nature of projects at the time, as some require smartphones in order to participate, and some require other devices, which would exclude smartphones by default.

06. Percent of paid completes from owned/branded member relationships versus intercept participants, trended by month
N/A.

07. Average number of dispositions (survey attempts, screenouts, and completes)per member, trended by month (potentially by cohort)
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

08. Average number of paid completes per member, trended by month (potentially by cohort)
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

09. Active unique participants in the last 30 days
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

10. Active unique 18-24 male participants in the last 30 days
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

11. Maximum feasibility in a specific country with nat rep quotas, seven days in field,
100% incidence, 10-minute interview This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

12. Percent of quotas that reached full quota at time of delivery, trended by month
This can be provided upon client request, but is not regularly reported by month.

Project Team

MediaScience® specializes in custom lab-based research and utilizes an array of scientific tools to tackle client research questions, including eye-tracking, biometrics, facial response coding, implicit and reaction time measures, traditional dial testing, and traditional survey measures. The MediaScience team is made up of a team of Ph.D. scientists and specialists who specialize in various fields in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, statistics, communication, marketing, and advertising – along with a support team of data collection specialists, video editors, and software programmers. Clients of MediaScience span the realm of broadcast networks, brands, digital content providers, app creators, advertisers, and much more.

Key Project Team:

● Dr. Duane Varan, CEO, MediaScience
● Dr. Amy Rask, COO, MediaScience
● Dr. Anthony Almond, Senior Scientist, MediaScience
● Daniel Bulgrin, Lab Director and Client Management, MediaScience

MediaScience delivers advanced online research services for context-driven ad testing, specializing in CTV streaming environments while maintaining expertise in neuromarketing and lab-based methodologies.