Fraudience

Laugh track: fraudience —Hugh Burr

Fraudience – A group of overly enthusiastic spectators positioned to cheerlead the performer; a tactic often used by politicians.

The term fraudience is a portmanteau derived from the terms fraud and audience. It generally applies to audiences on infomercials who, although supposedly unbiased and uninformed about the product, are in fact paid to cheer, gasp, and exclaim their joy and wonder about the product in question on cue. It is a marketing tool used to help build the impression in the minds of viewers that other people find the product to be of high quality and usefulness, in order to sway would-be buyers.