How to force ASP.NET Web API to always return JSON?

Philip W had the right answer but for clarity and a complete working solution, edit your Global.asax.cs file to look like this: (Notice I had to add the reference System.Net.Http.Formatting to the stock generated file)

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net.Http.Formatting;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Http;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Optimization;
using System.Web.Routing;

namespace BoomInteractive.TrainerCentral.Server {
    // Note: For instructions on enabling IIS6 or IIS7 classic mode, 
    // visit http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkId=9394801

    public class WebApiApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication {
        protected void Application_Start() {
            AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

            WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
            FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
            RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
            BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);

            //Force JSON responses on all requests
            GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Clear();
            GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Add(new JsonMediaTypeFormatter());
        }
    }
}

Supporting only JSON in ASP.NET Web API – THE RIGHT WAY

Replace IContentNegotiator with JsonContentNegotiator:

var jsonFormatter = new JsonMediaTypeFormatter();
//optional: set serializer settings here
config.Services.Replace(typeof(IContentNegotiator), new JsonContentNegotiator(jsonFormatter));

JsonContentNegotiator implementation:

public class JsonContentNegotiator : IContentNegotiator
{
    private readonly JsonMediaTypeFormatter _jsonFormatter;

    public JsonContentNegotiator(JsonMediaTypeFormatter formatter) 
    {
        _jsonFormatter = formatter;    
    }

    public ContentNegotiationResult Negotiate(
            Type type, 
            HttpRequestMessage request, 
            IEnumerable<MediaTypeFormatter> formatters)
    {
        return new ContentNegotiationResult(
            _jsonFormatter, 
            new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/json"));
    }
}

Clear all formatters and add Json formatter back.

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Clear();
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Add(new JsonMediaTypeFormatter());

EDIT

I added it to Global.asax inside Application_Start().

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.XmlFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Clear();

This clears the XML formatter and thus defaulting to JSON format.