<![CDATA[Background: The rapid growth of digital gambling platforms has transformed consumer engagement while increasing psychological vulnerabilities, particularly cognitive biases that distort decision-making and risk perception. Objective: This study aims to analyse how cognitive biases influence consumer behaviour in digital gambling environments in the South African context, focusing on the interactions among cognition, platform design, and socio-economic factors. Method: A qualitative document analysis was employed, synthesising multidisciplinary literature from cognitive psychology, behavioural economics, and digital marketing to identify patterns of bias activation and reinforcement. Results: The findings reveal that overconfidence, the illusion of control, and the availability heuristic are systematically exploited through gamification, personalised marketing, and algorithmic targeting, leading to increased engagement and risk-taking behaviour. Socio-economic pressures and cultural narratives of financial mobility further intensify these effects. Conclusion: Cognitive biases operate within a socio-technical system where digital environments actively reinforce irrational decision-making, requiring more comprehensive intervention approaches. Originality/Value: This review article makes a significant conceptual contribution to the fields of Cognitive Psychology and Behavioural Economics by synthesising multidisciplinary literature on the interplay among cognitive biases, digital platform architectures, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities in digital gambling within the South African context, an area that remains underexplored. This study maps current sociotechnical dynamics and serves as a strategic reference for policymakers, consumer protection authorities, and digital system designers in establishing responsible gambling frameworks, engineering ethical platforms, and guiding future empirical research agendas.]]>
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