  We explore the possibility that, while the Higgs mechanism provides masses to
the weak-gauge bosons at the electroweak scale as in the standard model,
fermion masses are generated by an unknown mechanism at a higher energy scale.
At low energies, the standard model can then be regarded as an effective field
theory, where fermion masses explicitly break the electroweak SU(2)_L \times
U(1)_Y gauge symmetry. If \Lambda is the renormalization scale where the
renormalized Yukawa couplings vanish, then at energies lower than \Lambda,
effective Yukawa couplings will be radiatively induced by nonzero fermion
masses. In this scenario, Higgs-boson decays into photons and weak gauge-bosons
pairs are in general quite enhanced for a light Higgs. However, depending on
\Lambda, a substantial decay rate into b \bar{b} can arise, that can be of the
same order as, or larger than, the enhanced H\to gamma gamma rate. A new
framework for Higgs searches at hadron colliders is outlined, vector-boson
fusion becoming the dominant production mechanism at the CERN LHC, with an
important role also played by the WH/ZH associated production. A detailed
analysis of the Higgs branching fractions and their implications in Higgs
searches is provided, versus the energy scale \Lambda.
