The Effect of Market Orientation, Service Innovation and Service Quality on Brand Preference and Willingness to Pay Higher Prices: Study of Rail Transport Companie’s Passengers

The purpose of this research was cogitating the effects of market orientation, service innovation and service quality on brand preference and willingness to pay higher prices, focusing on the mediating role of brand equity. Thus, the current research is practical in terms of goal, and descriptive-survey in terms of information gathering method. Questionnaires were used for collecting data. The statistical population of this research were passengers of the two rail transportation companies, in Tehran to Mashhad railway. 298 usable questionnaires were returned out of 400 ones distributed to the statistical population. The structural equation modeling technique was used with AMOS24 for testing the research hypotheses. The results showed that market orientation and its dimensions have a positive and significant effect on service innovation and services quality. In addition, though brand equity affected by before-mentioned variables, it has a significant effect on brand preference and willingness to pay higher prices.