Final answer:
The statement is an example of the psychological base of customer behavior known as attitudes, as it reflects evaluations and beliefs about fuel savings and environmental impact leading to the purchase decision.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement "I intend to purchase a hybrid vehicle because it will save me money on fuel costs and help me to fulfill a personal commitment to lessening my impact on the environment" represents the psychological base of customer behavior known as attitudes. An attitude encompasses our evaluations or feelings toward a person, idea, or object, and they can influence our decisions and actions. Here, the satisfaction derived from saving on fuel costs and contributing to environmental efforts reflects beliefs based on the available information about hybrid vehicles. In contrast, if the motivation were based solely on desires or goals, regardless of information, then it would represent the base known as motivation. Attitudes include cognitive components, which relate to our thoughts and beliefs about the subject, affective components, which involve our feelings or emotions, and behavioral components, which relate to the way the attitude influences our behavior. In this scenario, purchasing the hybrid vehicle is based on cognitive beliefs regarding financial and environmental benefits, leading to the behavioral act of buying it for those reasons.