You can't find anything perfect in this world which applies to merit system of bitcointalk, if you feel that you are not getting more merits as the one who you are accusing then follow their writing behavior.
Myself speaking :
Don't run for merits!I cannot agree with you more. I always stalk other peoples previous post to see and study what are their posting behaviour and what specific board they are posting so that I can learn learn based on what they share in the community.
As per my experience, I am receiving merit whether people agrees with my opinion with regards to a specific topic which makes receiving merit from other user to be subjective. And I think merit comes naturally when someone is well informed and educated in a specific topic.
Copying other's trading behavior will bring attention to your posts but copying is not the same as learning.IMHO, pretending to be someone else is something disgusting so I never did that.Just be myself still I am getting merits somewhat slow and steady.