{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T19:20:54Z","timestamp":1772220054141,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":97,"publisher":"MIS Quarterly","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Businesses are increasingly providing online assistance through help features to enhance the user experience in the digital era. Understanding factors influencing users\u2019 tendencies to seek online help is crucial for optimizing resources and improving support and the overall user experience. Drawing on utilitarian- and hedonic-motivation systems theory, this paper examines how the type of experience and the type of help provider impact users\u2019 online help-seeking behavior. Across three studies\u2014including secondary data analysis, an online experiment, and an observational study of actual user behavior\u2014we found that users are more (vs. less) inclined to seek help when encountering difficulties in utilitarian (vs. hedonic) experiences. This pattern was driven by users\u2019 greater focus on achieving specific outcomes in utilitarian contexts, in contrast to their emphasis on experiential enjoyment in hedonic contexts. Importantly, users showed a stronger preference for seeking assistance from human agents over service robots when facing challenges in utilitarian experiences. Nevertheless, during hedonic experiences, no notable difference between humans and robots emerged in users\u2019 inclination to seek help. These findings highlight the importance of considering the type of experience and the type of help provider when planning online support services, contributing valuable insights to the literature on hedonic vs. utilitarian motivation systems, users\u2019 online help-seeking behavior, and user experience.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.25300\/misq\/2025\/19133","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,18]],"date-time":"2025-09-18T16:21:11Z","timestamp":1758212471000},"page":"327-350","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exploring Online Help-Seeking Tendencies: The Influence of Experience Type and Help Provider Type"],"prefix":"10.25300","volume":"50","author":[{"given":"Shaobo (Kevin)","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Information Systems & Management Engineering, College of Business, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xun (Irene)","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Business and Marketing, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Le","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Systems, College of Business City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuwei","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xin (Robert)","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Marketing, Information and Decision Sciences, Anderson School of Management University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, U.S.A."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"10933","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,1]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"2026022713463918000_b1-12_ra_10_25300_misq_2025_19133","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"317","DOI":"10.1177\/0146167211427147","article-title":"The importance of challenge for the enjoyment of intrinsically motivated, goal-directed activities","volume":"38","author":"Abuhamdeh","year":"2011","journal-title":"Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026022713463918000_b2-12_ra_10_25300_misq_2025_19133","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/isre.2022.1171","article-title":"Human versus automated sales agents: How and why customer responses shift across sales stages","volume":"34","author":"Adam","year":"2022","journal-title":"Information Systems Research"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026022713463918000_b3-12_ra_10_25300_misq_2025_19133","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcps.2012.07.003","article-title":"Pleasure principles: A review of research on hedonic consumption","volume":"23","author":"Alba","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Consumer Psychology"},{"key":"2026022713463918000_b4-12_ra_10_25300_misq_2025_19133","unstructured":"Alton, L.\n           (2016). 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