From a merit Senders point of view, meriting a person who has not being merited before is rewarding, but also requires in my case more checks than meriting a person with a merit track, specially if the merited person has been merited by reputable forum members previously. In those cases, although some historical post checking may still be needed, I kind of trust to a certain degree their judgment, and may end up skipping a step or so in the KYM process.
I consider rewarding a user, who has never received a merit before, as a very responsible decision. In existing conditions and with the currently approved rules, 1 Merit opens up great opportunities that can be used "for evil" (spam and shitposting for the bounty awards). That is why it`s necessary to think carefully before taking responsibility for the fact that it was you who gave the newbie a ticket to life. If you cannot explain and argue your decision for one reason or another, or if you doubt the expediency of awarding such a user with merit, it`s better to abstain. Otherwise, such a newbie may not contribute to the forum, but on the contrary, break the rules and write poor-quality posts for bounty campaigns.