FROM ENTERTAINMENT TO DEBT: REFLECTIONS ON THE TIGER GAME AND THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL EDUCATION

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the social and financial repercussions resulting from the expansion of digital gambling, with emphasis on Fortune Tiger, widely known as the Little Tiger Game. The study seeks to understand how psychological mechanisms, marketing strategies, and the influence of digital media contribute to the development of compulsive behaviors and indebtedness among players, particularly those belonging to lower-income social groups. Bibliographical in nature, the research draws on academic studies, institutional reports, and recent legislation to discuss the social and economic impacts of this phenomenon and to examine the role of critical financial education as an instrument for prevention and civic formation. The results indicate that the Little Tiger Game primarily affects young people from social classes D and E, who allocate a significant portion of their essential resources to gambling, thus entering a cycle of financial losses and emotional vulnerability. The absence of financial education was found to increase susceptibility to risky behaviors and to reinforce the illusion of easy profit, widely promoted by digital influencers and advertising strategies. In this context, financial education emerges as an emancipatory tool essential for developing awareness, autonomy, and resistance to the manipulative narratives of consumption and the promises of quick enrichment disseminated through digital media.