The distinction between the artisan and the artist from a marketing perspective: a semiotic square approach[La distinción entre el artesano y el artista desde una perspectiva de marketing: análisis a través del método del cuadrado semiótico]

The genesis of this research is based on two observations: the issue of the boundary between the concepts of artisan and artist has been debated for many years and remains very unclear; marketing is playing an increasingly important role among artisans, both at the academic level and in practice. Thus, the objective of this research is twofold: to contribute to enriching the debate on the boundary between the artisan and the artist from a marketing perspective, and to deepen the understanding of the artisan in terms of their practices, motivations, and strategic orientations. After analyzing the historical, institutional, and academic definitions of these two notions, the semiotic square method, developed by Greimas and Courtès (1993), is employed. The results highlight four types of activities (artisanal, artistic, commercial, and industrial) that oppose and differentiate themselves on several criteria: manual vs non-manual know-how, intrinsic vs extrinsic motivations, and product vs customer orientation. To sum up, the marketing orientation of the artisan appears as a crucial element in distinguishing them from the artist.