Effective Date: 4.29.26
INTRODUCTION
This policy describes Emporia's standard procedures for administering Respondent incentives and reconciling research study completions. It applies to all client engagements unless modified by a signed Statement of Work or order form. Emporia may update this policy from time to time. Material updates will be communicated to affected clients in advance.
1. INCENTIVE ADMINISTRATION
- Emporia administers all Respondent incentive payments on behalf of clients by default.
- Clients do not distribute incentives directly to Respondents unless expressly agreed in a signed SOW.
- Emporia will process incentive payments 10 days following confirmation of Respondent completion.
2. COMPLETION CONFIRMATION
- For interviews and live sessions, clients confirm each Respondent's status (completed, no-show, disqualified) within 2 business days of the scheduled session.
- For surveys and asynchronous studies, clients confirm completion status within 5 business days of fieldwork completion.
- If a client does not confirm within the applicable timeframe, Emporia will treat the participation as completed for billing and incentive purposes.
3. RECONCILIATION
- Within the timeframe specified in the SOW (or within 5 business days of fieldwork completion if the SOW is silent), clients provide a reconciliation report confirming total completions and identifying any disqualified or invalid responses.
- The report should include the Respondent identifier and the reason for disqualification for each rejected response.
- If no report is received within the applicable timeframe, Emporia will invoice based on completion data in the platform.
- The reconciliation report is separate from the individual completion confirmations described in Section 2 and covers the study as a whole.
4. BAD DATA AND FEE ADJUSTMENTS
- If disqualified Respondents represent less than 10% of the total project sample, Emporia will honor incentive payments to those Respondents (the client remains responsible for funding those incentives) but will adjust service fees for those rejected Respondents on a case-by-case basis.
- If disqualified Respondents represent 10% or more of the total project sample, Emporia and the client will negotiate the appropriate adjustment to both incentives and service fees in good faith.
- Emporia will communicate any proposed fee adjustment to the client for approval before issuing the final invoice.
5. INCENTIVE FORFEITURE
- A Respondent may forfeit an incentive if: (a) the Respondent violates the Emporia Terms of Service; (b) the Respondent does not satisfactorily complete the research study; or (c) the Respondent deletes their account before completing the study.
- If a Respondent has completed a study and earned an incentive, account deletion will not forfeit the incentive. Emporia will process payment before completing the deletion or retain the information necessary to fulfill the payment.
6. PROCESSING FEES
- When Emporia distributes incentives on a client's behalf, a processing fee may apply as specified in the SOW or Emporia's current rate card.
- Processing fees are itemized separately on invoices.
7. TAX RESPONSIBILITY
- Emporia is responsible for evaluating and fulfilling any tax obligations arising from incentive payments made to Respondents, including any applicable income reporting, withholding, or information return requirements.
- Where required by applicable law, Emporia is responsible for collecting and maintaining tax documentation from Respondents (for example, IRS Form W-9 for U.S. tax obligations) and for issuing any required tax forms (for example, IRS Form 1099) to Respondents.
8. DISPUTES
- If Emporia disputes any portion of a client's reconciliation report, Emporia will notify the client in writing within 10 business days of receiving the report.
- Emporia and the client will work in good faith to resolve the dispute within 15 business days of Emporia's notice.
- Any dispute not resolved within that period will be handled under the invoice dispute procedures set out in the parties' applicable agreement (such as the MSA or Client Terms).
- Pending resolution of a disputed item, undisputed amounts remain due and payable in accordance with the applicable invoice terms.
CONTACT
Questions about this policy should be directed to support@emporiaapp.com and mark@emporiaapp.com.