There are situations where it would be helpful to have people buzzing around enthusiastically. Examples would be an open house or a book signing. What would you call people hired to attend such events? Shill seems too harsh.
Learn English – Non-derogatory word for shill
single-word-requests
Related Topic
- Learn English – Word like “serendipity” but with less emphasis on fortune or development of events
- Learn English – Word for when a country has a huge rich/poor divide, so people are deprived despite the prosperity
- Learn English – What do we call people who go to the gym
- Learn English – a correct word for a teacher who gives additional lessons to young students
- Learn English – word for a person who looks absent-minded, but in fact notices everything carefully
Best Answer
In psychological experiments, where you have actual subjects and people who the subject is meant to think are also subjects but are secretly working with the experimenters to influence them, I have seen the word "confederate" used.
https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Confederate
There are plenty of words that could generally be a positive version of "shill" (like "advocate"), but in the specific context you suggest I'm not sure there are that many, since it's a scenario of deliberate deception. Which is usually considered a bad thing.