In this paper, we investigate the spectral function of the Higgs mode in a two-dimensional Bose gas by using the effective field theory in the zero-temperature limit. Our approach explains the experimental feature that the peak of the spectral function is a soft continuum rather than a sharp peak, broadens and vanishes in the superfluid phase, which cannot be explained in terms of the [Formula: see text] model. We also find that the scalar susceptibility is the same as the longitudinal susceptibility.