Trapped by Faith: How Moral Branding Creates a Cycle of Obedience and Exploitation

HRMARS - Purpose: This study examines how moral branding creates a closed symbolic loop that sustains obedience and exploitation within a Malaysian faith-based enterprise, Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd (GISB). It explains how religious symbols, once commodified as moral legitimacy, evolve into self-reinforcing mechanisms that entrap followers and mislead outsiders. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative interpretive approach was used to analyse ten testimonies from former GISB members available on public YouTube platforms. Through iterative thematic coding, the study identified how religious authority, social isolation, and economic dependency interact to reproduce compliance and delay external intervention. Findings: GISB operates through a triadic closed loop in which (1) leaders monopolize symbolic authority to sanctify obedience and unpaid labour, (2) followers internalize hardship as spiritual devotion, and (3) outsiders misread visible piety as authenticity, granting delayed legitimacy and protection. This interlocking cycle allows moral branding to reproduce itself without resistance, transforming faith into a durable mechanism of control. The study also uncovers deceptive practices such as the portrayal of followers’ children as orphans to attract public sympathy and funding. Research limitations/implications: Public testimonies limit sampling control but provide authentic, unsolicited reflections. The loop model offers a transferable framework for analysing similar faith-based or ideological systems. Practical implications: Breaking such cycles requires regulatory vigilance and community literacy to expose how moral symbols can justify coercion and conceal abuse. Originality/value: This study introduces the closed-loop theory of moral branding, reframing consumer vulnerability as a collective, faith-engineered condition. It integrates branding, obedience psychology, and institutional legitimacy into a unified model explaining how religious authority converts faith into a sustainable instrument of control.