• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 15, 2011

Michael Callaghan, VP Digital and Strategic Marketing at Century 21 has just cited some media depravation research during his opening keynote at MediaPost's Mobile Insider Summit on Lake Tahoe that asked consumers whether they'd prefer to give up their smartphone or something else deemed important to their lives, and 70% said they're rather have their phones than alcohol.

"That's pretty big," Callaghan said, leading me to believe that he's not exactly a tea totler.

Moreover, nearly two-thirds (63%) said they'd give up chocolate, while 21% would give up their shoes instead of their smartphones.

But the study may have been biased along gender lines, Callaghan suggested, noting a remarkable high stat for the percentage of respondents who said they'd rather give up sex than their smartphones.

"Thirty-three percent would give up sex," Callaghan said, adding, "That was mostly women. It's just the data, I'm telling you what the data said."

Still not sold that smartphones have become an essential for many consumers? Callaghan cited one final stat from the study, which asked people which they would go home to retrieve first – their wallet or their phone – if they left it at home. "It was the smartphone," Callaghan said.