Given the extreme importance of interest as a motivator, it must be the central theme of any communication effort directed to women.

In addition, since women choose a career on the basis of the intrinsic characteristics of the work, they need to be made much more aware both of the existence of numerous non-traditional jobs and of the interesting nature of the various tasks involved.

There are also some secondary messages that women find persuasive:

• non-traditional work pays well;
• some non-traditional work environments are clean and physically comfortable.

Where work environments are neither clean nor particularly comfortable, this should not be pointed out as a disadvantage since women who find the job interesting overlook these environmental factors.

The high level of environmental comfort may be an important factor in marketing computer- related occupations. Since respondents of all ages (young girls, teen-age women and adult women) gave quite high rating to work with computers, this additional selling point should not be neglected.

(2 ) Prime Target Groups

Because homemakers reported the greatest dissatisfaction with the traditional women's jobs in which they had been employed, these re-entry women constitute a prime target for persuasive communications about non-traditional occupations.

Re-entry women, however, tend to be hesitant about coping with challenges and assuming work-related responsibilities. Thus, as well as the primary messages described earlier, this group of women would benefit from extra reassurance about their capabilities.

(3) Effective Communication Channels

Ideally, women should learn about the benefits of non-traditional employment from women who are already employed in these fields.

The use of these role models provides a number of important marketing advantages:

• they enhance the perception that there are already a number of women in non-traditional jobs;
  
  
• if the role models are representative of ordinary women (not "super-women" or "stars") , they can generate in their audience the belief that they too would be capable of doing non-traditional work;
  
  
• they can project their own enthusiasm about non-traditional work;
  
  
• they are able, from their own experience, to make their work sound interesting.

An experiential, hands-on forum to inform women about non-traditional work is also a persuasive medium of communication. Since doing something is always more enjoyable and informative than hearing about it or watching someone else do it, a forum enhances interest and increases knowledge. By having the opportunity to try doing a task (manipulating machinery, making something work), women will gain a more realistic sense of their ability to do non-traditional work.