Marketing Against Extremism: Identifying and Responding to Moral Disengagement Cues in Islamic State Terrorist Propaganda

Abstract

This study presents selective moral disengagement (Bandura 1986, 2002, 2015) as a paradigm for analyzing extremist marketing messages and for developing effective counter-messages. Selective moral disengagement explicates eight mechanisms common to extremist media content that can influence seemingly ordinary people to support and commit atrocities. Through a qualitative content analysis, the author investigates the use of moral disengagement mechanisms in an online propaganda magazine ( Rumiyah) of the so-called Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization. This work demonstrates the extensive use of the eight moral disengagement mechanisms throughout a variety of genres of IS propaganda articles. Additionally, a ninth moral disengagement strategy—humanization of perpetrators—emerged. The analysis reveals internal inconsistencies in IS’ approach to moral disengagement. The author argues that careful consideration of the use of these mechanisms in IS propaganda clarifies the understanding of IS’ marketing strategy and informs counter-messaging efforts. Specific counter-messaging approaches are proposed for combatting IS given these findings. Further, a roadmap is given for extending the selective moral disengagement analysis paradigm into other extremist marketing contexts, including U.S. domestic terrorism.

Marketing to Prevent Radicalization: A First Attempt at Delimiting the Field

“…As we highlight in Table 1, it is important to employ social media theories developed in marketing (e.g., Appel et al 2020) to understand the different domains of radicalization. In many ways, extremist groups seem to be adept in using sophisticated social media techniques in reaching, converting, and mobilizing their targets (Frazer 2023). As marketing scholars, we should not be afraid to “dig deep” in the social networks used by extremists (Lantz and Shaw 2023; Piazza 2023) or activists providing solutions (Brouard et al 2023).…”

“…Frazer (2023) and Piazza (2023) directly address the issues of violence, hate, and terrorism. While Frazer studies jihadist radicalization, Piazza examines domestic terrorism and political violence.…”

“…Frazer (2023) answers this call by using a well-established framework, selective moral disengagement (SMD), to better comprehend the messages published in the Islamic State's magazine Rumiyah . The SMD theory suggests that even if moral individuals are driven to avoid harmful behaviors, other factors, such as exposure to harmful communication, may disrupt these morality codes.…”

“…Then, they would use this same knowledge to develop superior marketing counterstrategies to prevent the rise of violence, hate, and extremism. In our opinion, the work of Frazer (2023) represents an insightful blueprint to accomplish such a process.…”

“…To support their point, Lantz and Shaw explain that right-wing extremist online spaces present only the side of the argument that "glorif[ies] and gamif[ies] acts of extreme violence" (p. 16) To counter this phenomenon, recent research has shown the virtuous effects of developing strong critical thinking skills about media content, which robustly reduce maladaptive persuasion (Radanielina Hita et al 2022). Frazer (2023) answers this call by using a well-established framework, selective moral disengagement (SMD), to better comprehend the messages published in the Islamic State's magazine Rumiyah. The SMD theory suggests that even if moral individuals are driven to avoid harmful behaviors, other factors, such as exposure to harmful communication, may disrupt these morality codes.…”